1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,679 What is krack alackin Harvarnox listeners, I am Damn Valley coming at you once 2 00:00:07,759 --> 00:00:13,240 more without my fantabulous co host Adam frommel our team look Ahead Train rolls on. 3 00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:16,920 We are onto the Brooklyn Nets. They have nothing going on at the 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,800 moment. Christian Winfield of the New York Daily News and co host of Uninterrupted 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,480 Certified Buckets podcast joins me to talk all things Nets, including the latest on 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,839 Kyrie Irving. So hopefully by the time you're listening to this the information is 7 00:00:30,839 --> 00:00:37,159 not too dated given how many twists and turns the entire issue saga, just 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,359 situation has been thrown for whatever you want to call it. Be sure to 9 00:00:40,359 --> 00:00:44,320 follow Christian on Twitter at Chris Plash. That's at kr I sp l A 10 00:00:44,679 --> 00:00:47,960 s h e Ed does a great job covering this team and the league at 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,079 large for the Daily News, and like I said, he co hosts the 12 00:00:50,119 --> 00:00:56,359 uninterrupted podcast Certified Buckets. Before we get started, just a reminder to continue 13 00:00:56,439 --> 00:01:00,359 rating, reviewing, and subscribing to this podcast wherever you get your guests. 14 00:01:00,439 --> 00:01:03,879 Subscribing and downloading every episode is most important to us, but also throw us 15 00:01:03,959 --> 00:01:07,200 ratings and reviews. Those really help us in the chart. Whether or not 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,959 you use iTunes, we do ask that if you have access to it, 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,879 head over to iTunes search Hardwoo Knox, throw us that firestart rating and write 18 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:19,200 a review. It helps us out a ton. I cannot stress that enough, 19 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,319 So thank you to everyone who has done that. If this is your 20 00:01:21,359 --> 00:01:26,239 first time listening to Hardwoodknox because you're this big NETS fan, stumbled onto us 21 00:01:26,239 --> 00:01:30,519 on accident, whatever, consider throwing us that permanent subscription. You'll get all 22 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,599 your pleasantly sub mediocre, only half insufferable basketball takes. Here. We cover 23 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,719 the league at large. Follow us on Twitter as well at Hardwooknox. Follow 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,519 us on YouTube. Go to YouTube dot com search Hardwknox. We will come 25 00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:47,560 up. Subscribe to our channel there, and we're also on Instagram at Hardwood 26 00:01:47,599 --> 00:01:52,560 Underscore Knox. Without any further delay, though, let's get to everything NETS 27 00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:57,680 with the daily newses and uninterrupted Christian Winfield. Christian, thank you so much 28 00:01:57,719 --> 00:02:01,280 for coming back on the hard NAS podcast. We are here to talk about 29 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,280 the Brooklyn Nets, who might be the most boring uneventful team. Yeah right, 30 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,400 I don't keep you busy at all, not at all, man. 31 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,000 Before we dive into the pure anarchy that is the Brooklyn Nets news cycle and 32 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:16,479 the upcoming season. I think the most important question is how are you doing. 33 00:02:17,039 --> 00:02:20,599 I'm good, man. You know, I had a long summer. 34 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,520 It felt like, you know, a lot of downtime. And honestly, 35 00:02:23,599 --> 00:02:28,560 it's just been a long, just period of time where there hasn't really been 36 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:30,719 much basketball going on, you know, like before Summer League. In preseason, 37 00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,400 I was just really just like sitting on my ass chilling. You're not. 38 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,400 I put on some pandemic pounds, so it's happy to burn those things 39 00:02:37,439 --> 00:02:38,639 off, man, And I'm ready to go. Man, I'm ready for 40 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,199 the season to go, and I'm ready for my ass to go to the 41 00:02:42,199 --> 00:02:46,879 gym and get right. I will say, as someone who considers themselves a 42 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:51,280 fitness nut, putting on the pandemic pounds was a lot easier than working off 43 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,080 the pandemic pounds. It's funny, yeah, oh yeah, you know, 44 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:54,960 I wish I wish it was the inverse, you know, I wish, 45 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,919 I wish, I wish it was easy to burn these things off. But 46 00:02:59,599 --> 00:03:04,159 life is so sweet. The Nets are baptizing you by fire. Though after 47 00:03:04,199 --> 00:03:07,479 your off season, it does seem like we have to start with the this 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:09,960 is I mean it has on court invocation. We have to start with the 49 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,960 Kyrie Irving stuff. And you actually we're recording this on a Thursday. You 50 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,120 published a good piece of the Daily News, which if people haven't read it 51 00:03:16,159 --> 00:03:19,639 here check it out. I think I retweeted it. If I didn't, 52 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,719 I'll go back and do it. I thought you did a nice job of 53 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,879 juggling the multiple truths that people struggle to grasp. Is that Kyrie Irving can 54 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,879 still have done great things for the community. He can have been right about 55 00:03:29,879 --> 00:03:31,599 what he said about certain things with the media in the past, and he 56 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,800 could be absolutely fucking over the Brooklyn Nets right now. Those those things can 57 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,719 all be true at once. And so what is is what is your expectation 58 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,080 of this situation? And I think the main question for me is if Kyrie 59 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:50,479 Irving remains steadfast in his stance to not want to get vaccinated, do you 60 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,360 see the brooklyn Nets accommodating that, or is this this situation that is going 61 00:03:54,400 --> 00:04:00,680 to deteriorate even further beyond those New York City limitation that have been put in 62 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,439 place. I feel like at this point, man, the only expectation I 63 00:04:03,479 --> 00:04:09,159 have is myself and the concussion protocol. Every week. It's a different headache 64 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,960 every day. Bro, It's ridiculous. But I mean, you gotta look 65 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,879 at it from all angles, right on one end, you know, Yes, 66 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,399 Kyrie is I mean, I don't know about you. To me, 67 00:04:18,439 --> 00:04:21,959 he's one of the most electrifying basketball players I've ever been able to watch. 68 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,920 You know what I'm saying, Just what he's able to do with the ball, 69 00:04:24,959 --> 00:04:29,800 how he's listen. Yeah, and he didn't even play them any games, 70 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:31,360 but he's still he still was. He was remarkable, you know. 71 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,480 So, so there's that one part of everybody that understands say, this team 72 00:04:35,639 --> 00:04:39,879 is a different level when you have a healthy Kyrie irving out there on the 73 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,879 floor. Right. But now, it's not even about health. It's about 74 00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:45,839 a guy just like being on well, I guess it is tangential to health, 75 00:04:45,879 --> 00:04:47,519 right, It's not an injury, it's it's a it's a decision not 76 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:54,240 to get a life saving vaccine, right, And it's just it's mind boggling 77 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,279 to the point where sometimes I struggle to find the words because I do in 78 00:04:58,399 --> 00:05:00,040 one in one hand, I under stand, you know, some guys, 79 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:02,600 one of you know what I'm saying, or go to the vaccine. They 80 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,920 don't underst they don't know what the far reaching implications of it all. You 81 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,439 know, whatever people's reasons are, you know, I tip my hat to 82 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,000 Andrew Wiggins. I tip my hat to Bradley Beal. I tipped my hat 83 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,360 even to Jonathan Isaac, because at least they sat there and answered the questions. 84 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,439 Right. Their logic may be flawed on on a number of points, 85 00:05:19,439 --> 00:05:24,480 and that's that's one thing we could discuss that. But actually standing there and 86 00:05:25,079 --> 00:05:28,279 saying, hey, I'm not taking the vaccine for these reasons, I can 87 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,480 kind of respect that. For Kyrie to come out and say, hey, 88 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,360 respect my privacy. I've got a plan, you know, and then there's 89 00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:38,879 been no movement so far, at least not right now. He could come 90 00:05:38,879 --> 00:05:41,519 out tomorrow, you know what I'm saying, and have some type of plan 91 00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:46,120 that that right, it could be it could all be a hoax, right, 92 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:47,839 this could all be just like a social experiment. I don't think that's 93 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,680 the case, you know. And for him to also just pull the respect 94 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,680 my privacy card on top of that, it's just it's just a lot because 95 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,000 now instead of asking Kyrie the questions. We're asking his teammates the question, 96 00:06:00,319 --> 00:06:02,360 right. Kevin Durant said at practice today, Hey, you know, I'm 97 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,240 envisioning Kyrie as part of this team, but maybe that's just me being naive. 98 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:11,680 If you've got Kevin Durant saying maybe that's me being naive, then you've 99 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,199 got your starting to have a problem in Brooklyn. And this is this is 100 00:06:14,199 --> 00:06:17,439 the Kyrie Irving formula. It happens every year. Remember last year he basically 101 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,439 told media he didn't want to talk to us. He said, Hey, 102 00:06:19,439 --> 00:06:21,519 I'm gonna give you a letter. He wrote us a letter and saying he's 103 00:06:21,519 --> 00:06:25,360 gonna let his play do the talking for him. And in his defense, 104 00:06:25,439 --> 00:06:28,759 it did right, best season I've seen him play. And then obviously in 105 00:06:28,759 --> 00:06:30,319 the middle of the season he takes two weeks off because of what happened at 106 00:06:30,319 --> 00:06:33,560 the Nation's Capitol, right, And I get that that was heavy for everybody, 107 00:06:33,639 --> 00:06:38,519 but it's just becoming something every single season. And it's just like, 108 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,680 at some point the nets have to say, Okay, what is the line? 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,000 What are we going to put up with? And I think that line 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,079 falls at part time, right, You're not a part time thirty five million 111 00:06:47,079 --> 00:06:49,480 dollar player. Right, that's not what we're gonna do. And on top 112 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,360 of that, you're a hometown hero and now your hometown fans can't watch you 113 00:06:54,399 --> 00:06:57,879 play, right. That that is really where it starts to get get tricky. 114 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,480 So I can't see it getting as part time player. I think that 115 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,480 the longerest thing drags out, the more likely we are to see a Kyrie 116 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,160 Irving tree. I go back and forth on whether it's a good thing that 117 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,759 he hasn't expanded upon his stands publicly or not, because I agree with you 118 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,720 that it look I everyone who listened to this podcast knows how I feel on 119 00:07:15,759 --> 00:07:18,560 this subject. To me and it's not to me. Issues of public health 120 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:23,839 and safety are not personal matters. However, Andrew Wiggins, Bradley Beale, 121 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,399 like you mentioned, they answered questions about it, they didn't defer. And 122 00:07:28,439 --> 00:07:31,160 while I'm not very I don't know that I'm interested in hearing Kyrie Irving's logic 123 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:34,000 because I don't think it's going to be one that convinces me this is fine. 124 00:07:34,959 --> 00:07:38,560 The fact that now the questions are falling to his teammates and that they're 125 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,800 hearing it, and we saw this, you know you mentioned last season. 126 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,480 If he needed to take the few weeks off because of what happened after the 127 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,519 people storming the nation's capital. I get it, but like there was a 128 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,160 lack of informational flow because his teammates in the organization still have the answer for 129 00:07:50,199 --> 00:07:54,839 his absence. Then two, and I'm just you know, you mentioned this 130 00:07:54,879 --> 00:07:58,600 in your article and I didn't even think about the timing where it was reported. 131 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,439 I think it was stephen A said yeah and Nick and Nick right would 132 00:08:01,439 --> 00:08:05,360 retire if he was traded to if he was traded for Brooklyn. Everyone wrote 133 00:08:05,399 --> 00:08:09,000 it off as just a joke, but now the timing behind this is like, 134 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,839 Okay, well that league seems like it might have been super strategic at 135 00:08:11,879 --> 00:08:15,279 this point. I don't know what to expect from this, but it sounds 136 00:08:15,279 --> 00:08:18,839 like for me that you don't think if the status quo doesn't change, that 137 00:08:18,879 --> 00:08:22,120 the Nets aren't going to be like, hey, we're fine with Kyrie playing 138 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,279 in thirty five games or whatever it is at this point. No, And 139 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,319 you know, I think my big guess is that I think Kyrie was trying 140 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,519 to work the religious exemption angle right, because that that angle, to me, 141 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,919 makes the most sense for him. And I thought to myself you know, 142 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,759 Andrew Wiggins obviously got rejected. But everything that we've seen from the NBA 143 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:43,320 is that it's a city by city you know, the league is deferring to 144 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,039 the cities and to the States zone. This's like, Hey, if we 145 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,159 need our players to be vaccinated, you tell us here in New York. 146 00:08:48,159 --> 00:08:52,840 There is no religious exemption, Mandy. There's no religious exemption, right If 147 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,720 you can't opt out of the vaccine for religious causes in New York City, 148 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,200 you have to get it no matter what. If you're falling under that that 149 00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:03,799 mandate. So there's no religious exemption for Kyrie. There's no you know what 150 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,720 I'm saying, in my at least in my estimation, there's no part time 151 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:09,679 player. You know what I'm saying. I don't think that's gonna fly, 152 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,440 you know, And he's running out of options. That's exactly what Andrew Wiggins 153 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,120 say. He said, Hey, time was running out for him for me, 154 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:16,320 so I had to do something even if I didn't want to do it. 155 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,159 Kyrie doesn't strike me as the type of person who's going to do something 156 00:09:20,159 --> 00:09:24,000 that he doesn't want to do. And I guess we're gonna see whether I'm 157 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,120 right or wrong. Because he's already been ruled out for Friday's game or whatever 158 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,559 whatever this goes live. When tomorrow Friday's game, I'll just say Friday's game, 159 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,200 and I don't know, I feel like that's just going to be the 160 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,879 beginning of a lot of miss games from It's it's it's sad. You know, 161 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:39,720 guys want to see him play. He is, he's right easily one 162 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,960 of the most spectacular players out there. All of his teammates want him to 163 00:09:43,039 --> 00:09:46,720 be out there with all the fans wanted to be out there, even probably 164 00:09:46,759 --> 00:09:50,120 even the opponents want them to be out there too. So it's it's tough. 165 00:09:50,159 --> 00:09:52,399 But at the same time, it's got to be a line that people 166 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,080 draw, and I think this is that line right here. And there are 167 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,240 implications to this because I do think that the nets at full strength are the 168 00:09:58,279 --> 00:10:03,639 closest the NBA comes to a championship formality right now, where if you just 169 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:05,559 told me all three of those guys are available, I don't know who I'm 170 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:07,440 picking to beat them four times in seven tries. This isn't last season where 171 00:10:07,879 --> 00:10:11,519 you know they're all injured or something along those lines. Now, Kevin Durant 172 00:10:11,519 --> 00:10:15,639 and James harn't had a training camp together, and so like, there are 173 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,200 real implications here. I think the first one is and maybe it's not. 174 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,960 It's really not this going from this what we just talked about to this question 175 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,399 is just so stupid. But like, who takes Kyrie Irving's place in the 176 00:10:26,399 --> 00:10:31,159 starting lineup if he's just not with this team, that is tough man probably 177 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,440 the Nets. Probably then we'll either have to that's tough because you probably moved 178 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,039 Joe Harris down to the two because right now he's your three. Because in 179 00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:39,759 my mind the lineup would be James Harn's the one, Kyrie the two, 180 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,879 Joe Harris, think KD. Then whoever your five is where that's Blake Griffin 181 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,360 or the Marcus Soldiers or Paul Mills set whichever way you want to go. 182 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,320 But if you remove Kyrie from that lineup, now you're either starting Patty Mills, 183 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,480 which I don't think makes sense. You have to bring him off the 184 00:10:52,519 --> 00:10:56,120 bench. So what makes more sense is moving Joe Harris down to the two, 185 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,639 probably moving KD down to the three, or starting Bruce Brown at that 186 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,120 three and then putting Katie at the four, or you go big and you 187 00:11:03,159 --> 00:11:07,159 have LaMarcus Alters and Blake Griffin starting at the five and the four, and 188 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:09,399 then you got Katie at the three, Joe Harris at the two, and 189 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,639 James Harden at the one. It's tough, you know. It takes you 190 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,879 from definite championship consender to okay. Now the Lakers have more superstars than you 191 00:11:16,919 --> 00:11:20,600 do. And on top of that, you're not a lot to beat the 192 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,919 Bucks anymore, right because if if you're going to seven game series against the 193 00:11:22,919 --> 00:11:26,919 defendant champions, you don't have Kyrie. Look at how important Kyrie was last 194 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,559 time. Kyrie got hurt in that series basically shifted the Bucks way right after 195 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,639 that. I don't know that I would bet against the Bucks in the same 196 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,879 series off Kyrie is out. You know, actually I might bet with them 197 00:11:37,919 --> 00:11:41,639 because they've seen this before, you know. And it's just tough. I 198 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,120 man that It's just it's so crazy how fast we go from okay, this 199 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:50,919 team is completely unbeatable to hold on. Now. Now, if you've got 200 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,399 some other pieces, Now you look at the team like the Bulls. If 201 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,279 the Bulls catch their straw and you've got the rosen, you've got lavine, 202 00:11:56,279 --> 00:11:58,799 you've got ball, and you've got Voussovich, who's been killing the nets since 203 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,480 he was in Orlando. That's a tough team they're gonna have to deal Look 204 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,120 at the Heat, you know what I'm saying. The Heat are going to 205 00:12:03,159 --> 00:12:05,879 be a tough team to deal with, even the sensors, and Land is 206 00:12:05,879 --> 00:12:07,080 going to be a tough team to deal with. That third star makes a 207 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,720 lot of the difference. And if you don't got him, good luck. 208 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:16,000 Is there like a sense is I know the organization has to be frustrated with 209 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,600 the situation, but do you get the sense that, like his teammates, 210 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,279 and specifically you mentioned Kevin Durant making a naive comment, but like a Hardener 211 00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:24,600 or Durant, are they getting to the point where this this has to be 212 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:28,720 frustrating to them? Correct? You know, they're gonna play it off as 213 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,080 if it's not frustrating to them. And that's kind of what has been the 214 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,360 entire time. You know, day one media day, Kyrie is not there. 215 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:37,200 All of us were asking, literally every other player, hey, are 216 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,039 you guys concerned at all that Kyrie is not vaccinated that his availability might be 217 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,799 impacted And everybody's saying the same thing, No, of course not. We're 218 00:12:43,879 --> 00:12:48,879 not concerned he's gonna come around. Of course they're concerned because now here we 219 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,600 are the preseason home opener and Kyrie is not going to be there, and 220 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,039 we're only a couple, we're weakened some change away from the actual home opener, 221 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,559 and it's not looking like Kyrie is going to be there either. And 222 00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:01,360 now you know, you're gonna have more questions for other guys who now are 223 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,039 going to be forced to talk about things they don't want to talk about being 224 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,960 Kyrie, And it just gets crazy. I mean, one thing that it 225 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:11,240 does do is it elevates Cam Thomas's role, right, and if you don't 226 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,759 have Kyrie, you need that extra scoring punch. You've got somebody. But 227 00:13:13,879 --> 00:13:16,559 that's not ideal. Right, This is a rookie. Yes he can score, 228 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,559 but that's not who you want to bump up in the lineup. So 229 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:24,320 it's tough. I don't think the players are necessarily being as honest about how 230 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,600 they feel about Kyrie Stays, because you don't want to come out and start 231 00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:31,480 talking crazy about your teammate, let alone a teammate that's of that stature. 232 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,600 But at the same time, it's just like it's got to be frustrating. 233 00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:39,279 Now everybody's nobody wants to answer questions about Kyrie, right, nobody does. 234 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,919 Kyrie doesn't even want to answer questions about Kyrie. Then now it's teammates have 235 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,840 to do exactly so it's it's it's it's a circus at this point. Man. 236 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,519 The final question on him that I actually did not anticipate asking until you 237 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,519 mentioned something. Do you think that there's an actual percentage chance, however slim 238 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,440 that you know this isn't Andrew Williams like there would be a team even with 239 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,200 the threat of Kyrie retiring I leave, which I don't know how many people 240 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:03,440 is true, they would trade for him. What would be the percentage chance 241 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:11,080 that things actually get that? Nuclear non zero, that's for sure. There's 242 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,480 definitely a non zero chance that things get that. But there's things you have 243 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:16,600 to consider. Number One, this is the second and last year of his 244 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,120 contract. I believe he has a player option next year that he can opt 245 00:14:20,159 --> 00:14:22,120 out of if he wants to. So a team that's trading for him is 246 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,799 essentially renting him, and I doubt that. Yeah, I doubt that a 247 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,799 team that is able to actually give what the Nets would want for him would 248 00:14:30,799 --> 00:14:33,559 do that without any assurances of him committing long term. And then on top 249 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,960 of that, you've just seen how how fickle he can be. He told 250 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,639 he told Boston he wanted to stay if they would have him, and then 251 00:14:39,639 --> 00:14:41,120 he left and came to us. Right, what's what's the difference? What 252 00:14:41,519 --> 00:14:43,679 makes you think he's not going to do that again and again and again. 253 00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:48,720 So you know, I do think there's still value for him, especially in 254 00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:52,200 a market. And this is another thing to consider, right. LA just 255 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,600 tightened their COVID vaccination mandate. Right, so now everybody there has to be 256 00:14:56,679 --> 00:15:00,200 vaccinated. You can't have players that are un vaccinated. Before it was just 257 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:01,919 San Francisco and now it's LA. So both the Clippers and they don't have 258 00:15:01,919 --> 00:15:05,320 a problem because the Clippers and the Lakers are one hundred percent vaccinated. But 259 00:15:05,399 --> 00:15:09,120 there are the cities are running out for Kyrie to go play, right Like 260 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:11,919 he could go to Philly. You could trade him for Ben Simmons tomorrow, 261 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,360 and then Philly says, hey, okay, well everybody on the team has 262 00:15:15,399 --> 00:15:18,559 to be vaccinated otherwise you can't play. And now the Sixers are in the 263 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,600 same scenario that the Nets are in. So it's tough right now. And 264 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:24,519 then on top of that, there is the threat of him retiring, which 265 00:15:24,519 --> 00:15:28,240 he put out strategically and then said, you had nothing to do it. 266 00:15:28,039 --> 00:15:31,720 It's it's actually man, I need to check into a shrink. Man. 267 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,679 It gets it's it's too much. Sometimes I wish you as much sanity as 268 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,679 possible. I'll cover it this particular topic, put the team in general for 269 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:45,120 the rest of the season. I do have some actual basketball questions for you, 270 00:15:45,159 --> 00:15:46,960 but there you go. Now my mind is clear, I can I 271 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,360 could talk basketball. What so we? I thought that four starting spots were 272 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,279 locked up, but the assumption is that it's still if Kyrie's healthy, it's 273 00:15:56,279 --> 00:15:58,559 still for and if it's not him, you already mentioned some alternatives. What 274 00:15:58,879 --> 00:16:03,039 do you think is happening with Who would you view as the player who starts 275 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,159 the most games at center for this team this year? Blake Griffin, that 276 00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:10,240 would be my guest. I still think that he was this team's best option 277 00:16:10,279 --> 00:16:12,360 at the five last year. And yes, their options have improved. You 278 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:17,559 add LaMarcus back, you bring in Paul Millsap, You've even got a guy 279 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:19,679 like Claxton who Steve nassaid is going to play a prominent role, even if 280 00:16:19,679 --> 00:16:23,840 the numbers of minutes don't add up. Blake Griffin is what this team understands 281 00:16:25,159 --> 00:16:30,399 as their small, versatile bruiser type of guy on that roster. I like 282 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,240 LaMarcus and what he brings, but in terms of defensive defensive versatility, not 283 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,440 a guy that can switch on screens, which is what they want to do 284 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,440 basically every possession. Paul millsapp is a guy who can switch on screens, 285 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,279 but what is he approaching thirty seven years old now or something like that. 286 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,720 Blake Griffin is the guy I think is going to be the starter at the 287 00:16:45,759 --> 00:16:48,200 center. And then on top of that, I mean give credit to show 288 00:16:48,279 --> 00:16:52,399 Marks. He created a team where they can play small and big, right 289 00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:53,919 they can. They can have Blake Griffin at the five, or they can 290 00:16:53,919 --> 00:16:56,360 play him at the four with with LaMarcus at the five. They could play 291 00:16:56,399 --> 00:16:59,919 LaMarcus at the five with Paul mills At at the four. They can play 292 00:17:00,159 --> 00:17:02,879 Claxton at the five with Kevin Durant at the four if they want. You 293 00:17:02,919 --> 00:17:06,839 know, there's so many different iterations of this team, particularly in the front 294 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:08,319 court, that I think are really interesting. But I do think we see 295 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:12,400 Blake Griffin as your opening day starting center. I think who plays the most 296 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:18,839 minutes at that five spot. In the preseason, they've dabbled with a LaMarcus 297 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,960 Aldridge, Paul Millsap front court with the second unit. Is that something you 298 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,200 see becoming a staple for this team. I guess we'll see, you know. 299 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:27,799 I asked Steve Nash that exact question, what did he think of that 300 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:30,000 lineup? And he said, Hey, you know, we're kind of experiment 301 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,920 right now. We want to see everything that we have. I would like 302 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,759 it, especially if you're if you're dealing with a team like the Lakers. 303 00:17:36,759 --> 00:17:41,359 If the Lakers are playing uh, Anthony Davis at the four and DeAndre Jordan 304 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,599 of all people at the five, then you've got to match that size somehow, 305 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,759 right, and that gives them that ability. And Paul Millsap, I 306 00:17:47,839 --> 00:17:49,440 loved what what I saw from him in the last game. You know, 307 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,400 he's able to do so many things, especially particularly crashing the offensive class. 308 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,920 He tried to go for a couple of putback dunks that I didn't think he 309 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,400 had in him, which is pretty cool, and that's kind of any where. 310 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,319 The next struggle with a lot on that offensive glass, they got killed 311 00:18:03,319 --> 00:18:07,319 by teams like Milwaukee, by teams like who killed them on the glass? 312 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,400 Andre Drummond came to Barclays and dogged them on the glass. Jared Allen, 313 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,559 after he got traded to the Cavs, came or the Nets went to Cleveland, 314 00:18:14,599 --> 00:18:17,559 he killed them on the glass. They routinely get dominated on the inside, 315 00:18:17,599 --> 00:18:21,200 and I think that lineup right there if LaMarcus and Paul Millsap will help 316 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,039 them show up that rebounding. So I think that's something we'll definitely see in 317 00:18:25,079 --> 00:18:30,400 the regular season for sure. I know that his youth or inexperience kind of 318 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,920 came to head later on in the season last year, I still view Nick 319 00:18:33,039 --> 00:18:37,000 Laxton as this team's best center. What do all these veterans being there, 320 00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:41,359 Millsap, Aldridge, Blake Griffin mean for his role? Like what type of 321 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,440 crack is he gonna get at at being able to have a regular rotation role 322 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,680 this year? That's gonna be tough. You know. If there's anything I've 323 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:55,599 learned about this team since covering them in the Superstar is that it's it's politics 324 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:00,960 as usual. Remember DeAndre Jordan was not your starting caliber center, but politics 325 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,839 got Jared Allen benched when that guy when DeAndre really, I mean we see 326 00:19:03,839 --> 00:19:06,759 it. We saw it all of the season. In the season wore he's 327 00:19:06,759 --> 00:19:08,119 not the same player he used to be, you know. And I think 328 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:12,359 it's talented as Nick Laxon is. He's gonna have to to pay some dues. 329 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,920 And those dudes are gonna come in coming off the bench, behind the 330 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,960 guy like Blake, behind the guy like LaMarcus who can score at will, 331 00:19:18,039 --> 00:19:22,079 still behind the guy like Millsap who's still you know, it's all about i 332 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,119 Q as well. And on top of that, Nix's conditioning isn't as high 333 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:26,720 as we would need it to be. I think we saw in some preseason 334 00:19:26,759 --> 00:19:30,720 games he catch he has to catch his wind a lot just by you know, 335 00:19:30,759 --> 00:19:33,960 I'm saying three or four minutes up and down the floor. He he's 336 00:19:33,039 --> 00:19:36,160 huffing and puffing for air, you know. So I think he's got a 337 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,559 ways to go and conditioning. But to your point, I mean, tremendous 338 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,079 athlete easily. I've seen him lock up some shooting guards on switches and point 339 00:19:45,079 --> 00:19:47,559 guards, you know, shut them down on the on the perimeter. I 340 00:19:47,559 --> 00:19:48,960 think that's a great look for them. But I do think he has to 341 00:19:49,039 --> 00:19:52,079 put on some more size and strength. He can get bullied down lower time, 342 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,160 so I think that's what he has to make up some ground as well. 343 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,359 I still think about sometimes there was a string of crunch time possessions where 344 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,039 he just he forced the ball out of Damian Lillard's hands and I don't have 345 00:20:03,079 --> 00:20:04,599 the matchup they did in front of me. But he was statistically one of 346 00:20:04,599 --> 00:20:10,079 the most switchable players guarded point guards the most among players six ten or taller 347 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,000 like over the past five years. That was per b ball and decks like. 348 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,720 I think Ben Simmons was the only player his sizes were larger who spent 349 00:20:15,759 --> 00:20:18,599 more time guarding point guards on a percentage of defensive possessions. Is it like 350 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,440 you know he had this was going back now, but he was there any 351 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,160 injuries that he was dealing with. Could his conditioning just still be off from 352 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,200 I believe he had COVID last year. He had he's, he's he's he's 353 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,480 been through it. He had COVID. He had a shoulder, I believe, 354 00:20:32,519 --> 00:20:33,160 and he had a knee. He had neat tend to night as. 355 00:20:33,799 --> 00:20:37,000 I believe he had. Yeah, I believe he had a shoulder. His 356 00:20:37,079 --> 00:20:38,559 rookie year, and then he caught COVID right after that, so he's still 357 00:20:38,599 --> 00:20:42,240 catching up. Yes, And to your point on the switching, I mean 358 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:47,799 he talks shit about that too, Like he's he's over there challenging opposing guards. 359 00:20:47,799 --> 00:20:48,799 You're saying, hey, man, if you think you can try to 360 00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:51,720 take me, try and take me, and I'm gonna shut it down. 361 00:20:51,759 --> 00:20:53,720 He welcomes those challenges, So I think that's something that the Nets need. 362 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:56,480 I think he's gonna learn a lot from a guy like Paul Millsapp. That's 363 00:20:56,559 --> 00:20:59,880 kind of what Paul Missopp has been able to do his entire career, just 364 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,200 that versatile guy. So I'm looking forward to seeing what he's able to do. 365 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,680 But in the back of my mind, there's only forty eight minutes that 366 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,079 could be played at the center position, and Nick is not a four, 367 00:21:10,279 --> 00:21:12,240 you know. I don't think he's got that three point stroke down or just 368 00:21:12,279 --> 00:21:17,039 the other skills needed in terms of playmaking to be that four. So if 369 00:21:17,079 --> 00:21:19,000 you've got guys like LaMarcus, you've got a blake. If you've got a 370 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,839 Millsap who you're probably anticipating plays in that hybrid four or five role. You 371 00:21:22,839 --> 00:21:26,480 know, just how many minutes can Nick get at that center position. I'm 372 00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:29,400 not sure, but to your point, I think he is going to be 373 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,440 this best team's option, just like Jared Allen was the team's best team's option 374 00:21:32,519 --> 00:21:36,400 last year and they hit it and go to him and the other The other 375 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:37,839 name that I didn't mention as we talk about there's only forty five minutes to 376 00:21:37,839 --> 00:21:41,440 go around, is there were just the lineups where it was Bruce Brown is 377 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,680 their de facto big with YEA with KD and so is that still going to 378 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,000 be an ingredient to this team's makeup? Yeah, for sure. I think. 379 00:21:48,279 --> 00:21:52,039 You know what's funny is we're seeing you know, rarely do we see 380 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,920 the the off season hype video of someone shooting threes and then it actually translate 381 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,880 into the floor like we could. We'll see We've seen videos of Dwight Howard 382 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,880 and Andre Drummond getting up threes in the offseason and they attempt one or two 383 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,039 of them in the regular season and it's like, Okay, why are you 384 00:22:06,079 --> 00:22:08,559 shooting? But Bruce Brown was knocking down some threes in the preseason game at 385 00:22:08,599 --> 00:22:12,599 top of the key three two. We're not talking about talking about one yeah. 386 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:17,880 Yeah, And if he's hitting those, then that that changes the complexity 387 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:19,319 because he's a guy who's screening roll. Now if he thinks that roll and 388 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,119 pops out and get hit a three, now he's changing the whole game. 389 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,920 So that's definitely someone that I still think will Blue will play an integral part 390 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,680 in the offense because he's a guy who can catch that ball off the roll 391 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:30,640 off the short role and then make a play. He can hit that guy 392 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,880 in the corner, or he can throw the lob up top. He's kind 393 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,400 of like a baby Draymond in that type of way. And I know that 394 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:37,839 sounds like a crazy comparison to make, but that's kind of the role that 395 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,799 he was playing last year. So I think there's still going to be room 396 00:22:41,839 --> 00:22:45,480 for that for sure. And I think, especially with Kyrie out, that's 397 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,440 somebody else you're gonna have to put in at those at to fill in those 398 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,079 minutes, because man, it's tough. They're also they have Kevin Durant and 399 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,079 Joe Harris, So this is a weird thing to say, but like they 400 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,799 don't have a bunch of wings exactly. Yeah, what happens there is Bruce 401 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,880 now just sort of expected to be a wing more this season? Do they 402 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,480 actually rely on DeAndre Benbury a little bit? How does that? You know? 403 00:23:06,519 --> 00:23:08,480 It's it's just the secondary rotation because you have Joe Harris, you have 404 00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:11,599 KD and then whatever you want to consider. James Harden point guard wing, 405 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,000 He's he could play one through four basically. When you so, like, 406 00:23:15,079 --> 00:23:19,920 how does that sort of shake out the I guess the secondary two, three 407 00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:23,119 rotation because we can kind of see the outlines of how four or five is 408 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,039 gonna work. Yeah, it's that's I think that's one of the areas where 409 00:23:27,039 --> 00:23:30,720 Sean Marks is gonna have to do something this season. He's hinted towards the 410 00:23:30,759 --> 00:23:33,119 rest of not being done. He's hinted towards the trade deadline and the buyout 411 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,799 market. I think he's going to look and see who becomes a free agent 412 00:23:36,839 --> 00:23:40,200 at that buyout market. You know. JJ Reddick said he's retired earlier this 413 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:41,920 season. I think that's a guy that comes out of retirement maybe the next 414 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,240 try to pick him up before they make a championship run. That's what they 415 00:23:45,319 --> 00:23:48,759 need. They need somebody who can really come in off the bench, play 416 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,240 play some defense, hit some threes, run up and down, and that's 417 00:23:52,279 --> 00:23:55,920 an area. You know, they did a great job filling out the front 418 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:57,839 court. You bring in a guy like Patty Mills and that's just instant depth 419 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,880 at that point guard. Spot Thomas is going to play a role. But 420 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,599 when you look at that three and D player that you need, you know, 421 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,119 DeAndre Bembry isn't really the three right he doesn't really hit threes. Few 422 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,480 James Johnson doesn't really hit threes. Feed two. You drafted a guy in 423 00:24:10,559 --> 00:24:15,839 Kessler Edwards who maybe could hit some threes and he can definitely play defense, 424 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,680 but his three point shot isn't there yet. So I think that's like, 425 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,079 you know, priority number one for this team right now is after Joe Harris, 426 00:24:22,079 --> 00:24:25,759 you don't really have very many wings who are just like spot up shooters 427 00:24:25,759 --> 00:24:29,200 and defenders. And if Joe Harris isn't hitting shots in the playoffs like he 428 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,200 didn't last year, then you've really got a problem because after him, you 429 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,319 don't have anybody else I can space that floor. Yeah, look, if 430 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,160 you're gonna sign JJ Reddick with a hope of him playing defense, you have 431 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,759 issues. I do. Sorry. You have James Ennis and Wesley Matthews, 432 00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:45,279 both both remained unsigned and West was bad last year, but James Ennis was 433 00:24:45,279 --> 00:24:48,799 good and this just yea, they would fit a lot of places. But 434 00:24:48,839 --> 00:24:49,839 when you look at the nuts depth chart, it's like, why isn't James 435 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,240 Ennis on this team? To me right now or someone like they just need 436 00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:56,559 that type of the idea of that player on the roster. Yeah, you 437 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:02,440 know, I think they said that, and by they I mean management said 438 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,720 that, you know, paying the luxury tax wouldn't be that big of an 439 00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:08,680 issue. But I think that's one thing to say, and then to actually 440 00:25:08,759 --> 00:25:11,680 do it is another. Because when you look at the cost cutting measures that 441 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:17,559 they took, like they traded away DeAndre Jordan and didn't bring back anybody else. 442 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,759 They had an opportunity to go get to trade Spencer Dinwoody and get a 443 00:25:21,799 --> 00:25:25,359 guy like KCP, or get a guy like Contavia, like like like Kyle 444 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,519 Kuzma, or even get a guy like Mantres Harold, and they didn't get 445 00:25:27,519 --> 00:25:30,599 anything from that. Right they could have addressed one of those needs right there. 446 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,559 They chose not to because hey, why not just signing trade Spencer and 447 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:37,839 not bring any caps, but not bring any payroll hit so that we don't 448 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,799 have to pay that luxury tax. Then you see it again. They trade 449 00:25:40,799 --> 00:25:44,519 away DeAndre Jordan, the twenty years left on his contract, they bring back, 450 00:25:44,519 --> 00:25:47,079 say Ko Dambuya. They trade away, say Ko Dambuya. Don't get 451 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:48,880 anything back for him? Why because they don't want the cap hit. The 452 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,119 rockets waved him, not them, So they wanted to say, hey, 453 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,200 we don't really care, We'll spend in the luxury tax. But it's no, 454 00:25:56,279 --> 00:25:59,039 we'll spend in the luxury tax up until a certain point. I think 455 00:25:59,039 --> 00:26:00,759 they've hit that point, you know, and I think they're they're unwillingness to 456 00:26:00,799 --> 00:26:03,960 spend a little bit further. If a guy like James Ennis is out there 457 00:26:04,039 --> 00:26:07,200 right now, why don't you just go get them right, that's a perfect 458 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,519 fit. They didn't do that. Maybe maybe they maybe they spend the block 459 00:26:10,599 --> 00:26:12,440 later in the in the year, who knows. But right now I'm starting 460 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,160 to think that maybe they're they're pinching pennies a little bit more than they should 461 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,880 be, which is crazy because the team is owned by one of the richest 462 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,240 people in the world. Like, let that check fly, bro, Yeah, 463 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,519 and I'll never tape for the suits. Maybe they're just thinking that they 464 00:26:25,559 --> 00:26:29,079 still have to pay luxury tax on a player's salary who might not be with 465 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:32,519 the team. Since they're not giving teams luxury tax lead for players who miss 466 00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:37,279 games with so they aren't they might save some of his salary. They're just 467 00:26:37,319 --> 00:26:38,720 not going to save the luxury tax they need to pay on top of it. 468 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:44,680 Right, So we've not mentioned Cam Thomas a couple of times, who 469 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,039 for some reason, I kept wanting to call Cameron Stewart. I've referred to 470 00:26:48,079 --> 00:26:51,319 him on radios and podcasts. I don't I don't know what's where does the 471 00:26:51,319 --> 00:26:53,640 Stewart come from? I have Christian I have no fucking idea. That's the 472 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,839 problem. Like I don't know what the word slip is about. I did 473 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,319 fall in love with him a little bit leading up to the draft, and 474 00:27:00,319 --> 00:27:03,640 then fell in love with him even more during summer league. Sure is there 475 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,359 a chance that he works his way into regular minutes with this team, and 476 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,079 I'm sure it's easier with Kyrie out, But even the idea of playing a 477 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,359 rookie whose first instinct is to score on a team that has Kevin Durant, 478 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,000 James Harden and is going to have title aspirations no matter what, there's I 479 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,119 don't want to say it's iffy. It's not something you see happen a lot 480 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,440 though. Sure, you know, and obviously with Kyrie out, it's a 481 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,119 lot easier to be like, oh yeah, Cam Thomas can fit that role, 482 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,480 confider role here, confider role there. But if we're talking about the 483 00:27:32,519 --> 00:27:36,079 nets being at full strength, you know, it's tough to see him breaking 484 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,160 into a rotation where either Kyrie Irving or keV or James Harden is going to 485 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,880 be at the one for most of those minutes. And in the minutes that 486 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,519 they're not at the one, you got Patty Mills, right, And the 487 00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:48,400 minutes that Patty Mills is at the one, you've probably got one of James 488 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,200 or Kyrie or Joe or Bruce at the two. Right. So there's a 489 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,039 lot of minutes there between the guys that they have already you know, written 490 00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:00,279 into the rotation that we're there last year or Pat Mills coming in. But 491 00:28:00,599 --> 00:28:04,839 I mean, it's hard to write a guy off when he's if he's gonna 492 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,200 just keep hitting the shots that he's been able to hit. I mean, 493 00:28:07,519 --> 00:28:11,440 I watched that guy hit a one legged running three point shot for the win 494 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:15,839 and studded death right, Like, it doesn't make any sense. And if 495 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,559 that's the type of player that they've got just sitting in the rotation, hell 496 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,880 yeah, why not throw him in. And it's a lot easier to do 497 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,039 that now if Kyrie's not gonna play. But if he is gonna play, 498 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,559 and maybe Kyrie is cold, and maybe he's two for eighteen or two for 499 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,039 twelve or two for thirteen, whatever the night is, and Steve's like, 500 00:28:32,079 --> 00:28:33,880 hey, we're just gonna give you a break. Yeah, this is gonna 501 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,359 start being we want Cam Thomas chance. The Barclay Center is gonna start asking 502 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,519 forms those are happening no matter what. Yeah, exactly. So I think 503 00:28:41,599 --> 00:28:44,480 at some point, you know, Steve Nash is gonna oblige, But in 504 00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:47,400 a in a loaded team, like if we're in the playoffs, for example, 505 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:49,759 and if Cam Thomas hasn't played a lot in the regular season, I 506 00:28:49,759 --> 00:28:53,680 don't see him getting his breakout game in the playoffs unless somebody gets hurt. 507 00:28:53,759 --> 00:28:56,440 Right, It's one of those situations. If if a spot opens up for 508 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,799 him to slide in, then yes, but if we're talking about a full 509 00:29:00,119 --> 00:29:03,519 loaded team, it's tough for me to see him, Like actually, sneaking 510 00:29:03,519 --> 00:29:06,599 his way into the rotation at all. Last year they seem to have a 511 00:29:06,599 --> 00:29:10,839 clear way of staggering their three stars, or at least James Harden was being 512 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:15,079 pulled and then getting reps. Yeah, the second unit, heavier lineups. 513 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:21,119 How does that change if at all? With Kyrie not there? Cool, 514 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,119 that puts a lot more burden on James Harden, right, because that's your 515 00:29:23,119 --> 00:29:26,640 guy that you want to orchestrate the offense. And sometimes, you know, 516 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,920 they'd have Kyrie at the one and rest James and then bring James Harden back 517 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,000 in either at the end of the first at the beginning of the second, 518 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,759 you know, And that's probably what's gonna happen. And I think Patty Mills 519 00:29:36,799 --> 00:29:38,759 saw some of those issues right, because you can put James Harden on the 520 00:29:38,759 --> 00:29:41,720 bench, bring Patty Mills in and play him with the Kevin Durant. You 521 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,799 can play Patty Mills with four other guys on that team, and Patty's the 522 00:29:45,799 --> 00:29:47,920 guy who could generate offense on his own, right. You can run a 523 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,480 lineup out there of I'll just throw names out there. You can run Patty, 524 00:29:49,519 --> 00:29:55,119 LaMarcus, Blake, Joe, and Bruce, and I think that would 525 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:56,599 be a at least neutral lineup right. I think they'd be negative. I 526 00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,240 think they'd find a way to stay afloat until you brought one of the two 527 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,839 stars back in. But it's just crazy how much changes when you take one 528 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,440 guy out of the lineup right, and once Kyrie comes out, it's like, 529 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,279 Okay, now we've got to kind of figure out what the hell we 530 00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:12,000 are right now and how we're gonna do this right, because I think that 531 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,480 that changes on everybody's role a little bit, right, because you've got Kyrie 532 00:30:15,559 --> 00:30:18,640 who I mean, and I've said this before, Yes, Kevin Duran is 533 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,799 the best player on the team in the world. James Harden is the team's 534 00:30:21,799 --> 00:30:23,359 point guard right best pass it. But Kyrie is the head of that snake. 535 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,960 He's the guy who's on attack mode all the time. Like if the 536 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,279 nets one looks him, if they're not drawing up a play for Joe on 537 00:30:30,559 --> 00:30:33,759 possession number one, they're probably getting the ball to Kyrie and everybody else is 538 00:30:33,759 --> 00:30:36,079 getting out of the way because he's gonna make it. He's gonna get a 539 00:30:36,079 --> 00:30:38,200 shout off if you don't have him. And now that either becomes were getting 540 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,480 the ball to kad early or we're gonna run that offense through James early. 541 00:30:41,799 --> 00:30:45,759 And I think honestly, having Kyrie on the floor out there takes a lot 542 00:30:45,799 --> 00:30:49,200 of the pressure off of James to score. We saw that all last season. 543 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,759 He was just able to focus on setting guys up all the time and 544 00:30:52,759 --> 00:30:55,759 he would pick his shots whenever he wanted to. Now it's not that easy. 545 00:30:55,799 --> 00:30:59,079 Now we're looking more like that second round series against the Bucks where the 546 00:30:59,119 --> 00:31:02,839 Bucks were able to the Buck's basically double team James Harden the full length of 547 00:31:02,839 --> 00:31:06,319 the floor, even though he's playing on one hamstring, which which threw him 548 00:31:06,359 --> 00:31:10,400 off. And then they're sending a double at Kevin Durant every time he touches 549 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:11,599 the ball, and he and I don't know how he's still able to make 550 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,119 these shots. But now you've got the rest of the guys on the floor 551 00:31:15,119 --> 00:31:17,880 scramble and trying to figure out where they fit in. Any competent defense is 552 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:19,640 going to be able to slow them down. The three headed monster is what 553 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,160 really throws teams off, right, because every team, or most teams have 554 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,599 two guys that you got a game plan for, right, two guys that 555 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:27,279 you can say, okay, well, he's going to hit a shot, 556 00:31:27,279 --> 00:31:30,920 and that's tough. If you got three, that's where it gets tricky. 557 00:31:32,119 --> 00:31:33,440 And you know, I asked this question to Steve Clifford. I was like, 558 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,440 hey, how do you how do you stop these guys? And he 559 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,559 goes, Hey, it's not even about stopping those guys, because once those 560 00:31:38,559 --> 00:31:42,160 guys get going, everybody else around them starts getting it going to and then 561 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,000 it becomes impossible to stop the other guys. Well, once Kyrie is out 562 00:31:45,039 --> 00:31:48,160 there, they become a little bit more predictable, you know, And that's 563 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,799 where I think they're gonna struggle. Is that what are you gonna do? 564 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,559 Now? Well, now we kind of have an idea. The thing that 565 00:31:55,599 --> 00:31:59,279 I feel like it's not being talked about enough either, is Patty Mills wasn't 566 00:31:59,319 --> 00:32:01,480 great was the year last season? He's a little bit older, and so 567 00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:06,000 if he's not able to just generate his own offense or shots at the same 568 00:32:06,079 --> 00:32:07,960 level he was, you know, even at the beginning of last year or 569 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,759 whatever it may be, Now, who who do you rely on? More 570 00:32:12,799 --> 00:32:14,559 like, do we get to a point where they might need to run things 571 00:32:14,559 --> 00:32:17,640 like through the Marcus or Blake Griffin just to sort of you know, figure 572 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:22,039 out like I just have a pecking order beyond James, Harden and k Yeah. 573 00:32:22,119 --> 00:32:25,720 You know, even though he wasn't that great in the regular season, 574 00:32:25,759 --> 00:32:30,920 he was spectacular in the Olympics, and I do give him that. He 575 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,839 he definitely had a great Olympic showcase and Australia won bronze. I think that's 576 00:32:34,839 --> 00:32:37,160 the first time in there in their country's history of winning a bronze medal in 577 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,559 men's basketball. So, you know, I don't think I'm worried about Patty. 578 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,400 You know, I think playing with guys like James and Kady are going 579 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,079 to make his life a whole lot easier. And then on top of that, 580 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,079 it's a perfect role. He's the sixth man. He wants to command 581 00:32:50,359 --> 00:32:52,079 that second unit and get guys set up. And then, you know, 582 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,119 I don't think I'm necessarily worried about him. But to your point, you 583 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,200 know, I think that pecking order somehow goes you know, it goes Kady, 584 00:32:59,319 --> 00:33:02,400 then James, and then probably you're still looking at Joe Harris is the 585 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,960 best three point shooter in the league. You know, forget about the playoff 586 00:33:06,039 --> 00:33:07,799 series, if you can, forget about the playoff series, because it was 587 00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:12,799 horrendous, you know, league leading three point shooter. I believe two years 588 00:33:12,839 --> 00:33:15,640 in a row. In terms of efficiency, the man is a bucket, 589 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,839 and I think they continue to draw plays up for him. And then on 590 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,799 top of that, you've got LaMarcus who can get a mid range jump shot 591 00:33:20,799 --> 00:33:24,000 over anybody. Blake can still create offense, Cam Thomas can create offense, 592 00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:28,640 as we saw Patty Mills. So they have a whole lot of options outside 593 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,680 of that. Harden and Durant combo, and we're talking combo now because Trio 594 00:33:32,839 --> 00:33:35,880 is is questionable. At this point. We don't know if there's going to 595 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,279 be a trio, which is crazy, but I do think they I still 596 00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:42,920 don't think offense is going to be their issue, and surprisingly I think they 597 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,359 did improve on defense too. So I think we're still going to see a 598 00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:49,680 good NETS team, a great NETS team. But it just boils down to 599 00:33:50,039 --> 00:33:52,160 you can be great, but then make it to the playoffs and you get 600 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,000 a team that's a bad matchup for you, right. I think without Kyrie, 601 00:33:54,079 --> 00:33:57,599 the Bucks are going to be a bad matchup the Bowls. If they 602 00:33:57,599 --> 00:34:00,680 don't self destruct, they're going to be a bad matchup. And the Heat 603 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,000 are also going to be a bad matchup for them as well. You might 604 00:34:02,039 --> 00:34:06,200 be the person who is highest on the Bulls that I've spoken to all off 605 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:10,199 season. Listen. So there's two ways I see this this season going. 606 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:15,280 They're either going to finish ten and seventy two and be absolutely shit, or 607 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:21,320 they're gonna finish like fifty and thirty two and be just like the best Bulls 608 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,320 team that we've seen Derrick Rose Rose Era. I think that it's a great 609 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,480 roster, right. I think that what we saw with with Lavine and Vouch 610 00:34:27,559 --> 00:34:29,960 last year was just like you know, they threw that duel together at the 611 00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:31,239 end of the season, tried to figure it out, try to make a 612 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:37,400 playoff push. It didn't work. But now it's just yeah, exactly exactly. 613 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,000 But if the roster just makes sense. Now a lonzo can push that 614 00:34:39,039 --> 00:34:42,639 pace and he can defend the one very well. And on top of that, 615 00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:45,800 you've got two guys who are high flyers that are gonna be running in 616 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:49,960 transition with them in Derosen and Lavine, and then you got a little post 617 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,400 presence and then I think they've got Pat Williams at the four. I like 618 00:34:52,519 --> 00:34:54,840 that roster. It's just a matter of can they just like get that dark 619 00:34:54,880 --> 00:35:00,199 cloud that's been hovering over Chicago, Chicago basketball over them, because that's all 620 00:35:00,199 --> 00:35:01,119 this left. If they can, if they can, you know what I'm 621 00:35:01,119 --> 00:35:05,719 saying, get rid of that. I think they'll be okay this year does 622 00:35:06,119 --> 00:35:08,920 and everything's loaded and seems more likely with Kyrie out. I've thought, I've 623 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,960 wondered if Javon Carter now is the opportunity to play a larger role because I 624 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,760 feel like we're I'm overthinking, I'm asking all these offensive questions. They will 625 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:20,480 buy in large, be fine, But I think the goal should be when 626 00:35:20,519 --> 00:35:23,480 you're going from Kyrie to whatever you have is let's at least streamline life for 627 00:35:23,559 --> 00:35:27,079 Katie and Harden as much as possible. And if you're gonna start Blake with 628 00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:30,679 them, let's preserve all the shot creation that's left on the bench as much 629 00:35:30,679 --> 00:35:34,480 as possible. To rework some of the lineups. And so you leave Patty 630 00:35:34,519 --> 00:35:37,079 Mills with the second unit, Cameron Stewart on the bench, you have LaMarcus 631 00:35:37,079 --> 00:35:43,159 Alters there, Cam Thomas, you say cam Stewart again, I told you 632 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,320 I'm not lying. That's funny, But like, could Javon Carter be like 633 00:35:46,599 --> 00:35:50,679 make sense to start next to James Harness is someone who would defend his butt 634 00:35:50,679 --> 00:35:53,239 off and yeah, all in his hands. And one thing that I didn't 635 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,679 know about Javon Carter, he'll get those shots off too. Especially in preseason 636 00:35:57,679 --> 00:36:00,440 he was being pretty aggressive. I didn't know that was his game. But 637 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,119 he's got following so much last year, but they got them off. Yeah, 638 00:36:04,199 --> 00:36:06,559 he'll he'll shoot him, you know, And that's kind of what you 639 00:36:06,639 --> 00:36:08,159 need. A guy is gonna defend but also not you know, be a 640 00:36:08,199 --> 00:36:13,079 liability on offense. Right It's not like it's it's I hate to bring up 641 00:36:13,119 --> 00:36:15,440 Ben Simmons right now, but if you have Ben Simmons on offense versus Javon 642 00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:20,760 Carter both at great defenders but offensively, if you need somebody to be that 643 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:23,719 secondary not assay playmaker, but if you if you've got James Harden coming off 644 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,880 the screen and you've got Javon Carter in the corner, or you've got Ben 645 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,880 Simmons in the corner, you want Javon Carter hitting that shot. And I'm 646 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,840 not no waste or for him saying that Javon Carter is a better basketball player 647 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,239 than Ben Simmons right now, I don't want you to clip that part and 648 00:36:37,559 --> 00:36:43,239 social that it's crazy they'd be start attacking to be there. But no, 649 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:45,239 I do like Javon Carter's fit, and I didn't think about that until you 650 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:49,360 mentioned that. You know, that does kind of make sense because you've already 651 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,639 got offense out there with a guy like James, with Joe, with with 652 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:54,519 k D, with LaMarcus out there, right, if you can have someone 653 00:36:54,559 --> 00:36:59,360 that can shut down the opposing teams won and not have hardened guard that guy, 654 00:37:00,159 --> 00:37:01,199 I think that makes a lot of sense. Or you put Bruce out 655 00:37:01,199 --> 00:37:04,400 there, right, and if Bruce's hid in the three the way he was, 656 00:37:04,599 --> 00:37:07,039 the way he's been hitting in preseason at least, then that that works 657 00:37:07,039 --> 00:37:13,280 too with hardened Katie. Katie plays in fewer than half the team's games last 658 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:15,079 year. Harden has the hamstring injury popping up. And I know he's mostly 659 00:37:15,079 --> 00:37:19,599 been an iron man, but that almost worries me because of all highest uses 660 00:37:19,639 --> 00:37:22,159 has been since he left. Okayc Yeah, even does does not have any 661 00:37:22,199 --> 00:37:24,800 Kyrie. It's a lot easier to do this if you have Kyrie. Like, 662 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,440 are they gonna do anything to monitor what these how much these guys are 663 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,360 shouldering in terms of appearances during the regular season or now without Kyrie, or 664 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,400 we just you know, all hands on deck here because there are. It's 665 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,119 a lot harder to win games with one star as opposed to two or three. 666 00:37:39,599 --> 00:37:43,159 Yeah, I think it would be a little bit of both. Number 667 00:37:43,159 --> 00:37:45,760 one, I think even still without Kyrie, you've got a team that's capable 668 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:50,519 of blowing guys out right, like you've got their bet. Their most explosive 669 00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:53,159 offensive line up in my book is Patty James, Harden, Joe Harris, 670 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:58,079 Kevin Durant and pick your choice up the five, either La Marcus or Blake. 671 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,559 And I think it's just gonna be tough to slow down that lineup. 672 00:38:00,639 --> 00:38:04,480 Ever, right, if you put in Kyrie, it's overkilled. If you 673 00:38:04,519 --> 00:38:06,599 don't, then it's like, okay, well that's still a tough lineup to 674 00:38:06,639 --> 00:38:09,760 stop. But at the same time, last year injuries destroyed this NETS team, 675 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,039 and not just in the playoffs, We're talking all season, you know, 676 00:38:13,119 --> 00:38:15,760 So I think they learned their lesson. I think they're gonna gonna load 677 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,960 manage you guys. You're gonna see guys not play in the second game of 678 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,440 back to back, So you're gonna see them strategically sit because of maybe longer 679 00:38:22,519 --> 00:38:24,519 road trips or longer stints with you know, they might have a four games 680 00:38:24,519 --> 00:38:27,960 and five nights coming up, so they might rest guys in two of those 681 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,719 games. That's the type of team this is. You know, they're definitely 682 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:32,280 going to rest their guys, and they've got a lot of older guys on 683 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:36,559 the roster, but they've got some young guys that that can play. Right, 684 00:38:36,599 --> 00:38:37,239 I think you can go a game. I think you can go a 685 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:44,039 game against say the Sacramento Kings, and rest Kevin Durant and James Harden and 686 00:38:44,119 --> 00:38:45,800 still say, hey, I like my chances because we've still got some guys 687 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,719 out that they can play. So I think I think they're built to last. 688 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:52,639 It just then boils down to when you get into that second half of 689 00:38:52,679 --> 00:38:57,199 the season and these games start to matter. You can't start punting games. 690 00:38:57,239 --> 00:38:59,760 But you also don't want to put your guys at risk. So I mean, 691 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,719 it's gonna be something we're monitoring for sure, but I do think they'll 692 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,519 be okay. Then again, I could say that and then James Harran tweaks 693 00:39:06,519 --> 00:39:09,960 his HAMPSTI in Game one, and now we've got worst case times too. 694 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,440 If something like that happens and Kyrie is still not with the team, man, 695 00:39:14,599 --> 00:39:16,760 alright, PD your psyche. I don't want to have to be on 696 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,719 the nets beeed. At that point, this team was twenty first in points 697 00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,039 a lout per possession last year on defense. You see them being better or 698 00:39:23,079 --> 00:39:27,360 worse than that this season when you look at the makeup of their roster right 699 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:32,360 now, I think worse. I think losing Email Doka is a huge blow. 700 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,320 I think the Celtics are going to be impressive on defense, that the 701 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:39,079 Nets are going to take a step down. And I think that even though 702 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:43,920 on paper they got better. Right Like, you added James Johnson, you 703 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:49,159 added the DeAndre Bembry, you added a Paul Millsat There's only but so many 704 00:39:49,199 --> 00:39:52,639 minutes to go around, right, So you're gonna have James Harden out there, 705 00:39:52,639 --> 00:39:54,239 who I mean, say his credit, he's he's a better defender than 706 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:58,440 I thought, but he's not a lockdown defender. You're gonna have Joe Harris 707 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,320 out there, who knocked down Shooter, can be a turnstyle defensively. Kevin 708 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:05,360 durant Is is great defensively, but you're gonna be asking a lot for him 709 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:08,079 on offense. If you've got LaMarcus out there, he can protect the rim, 710 00:40:08,079 --> 00:40:10,360 but he's not a guy that's a versatile He's not gonna be able to 711 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:15,000 switch, you know, and that's really your lineup. I'man sure you can 712 00:40:15,039 --> 00:40:16,679 have a guy like Bruce out there, but I just think it's gonna be 713 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,000 tough. You know, I'm not sure, you know, I guess. 714 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,880 I guess That's where I'm at right now. I don't know what we're getting 715 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,039 from the nets. On the defensive standpoint, I would expect there to be 716 00:40:25,079 --> 00:40:29,920 some drop off because I know how much email Dooka meant to that defense and 717 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,000 what he was doing. But at the same time, you know, guys 718 00:40:32,039 --> 00:40:35,480 might just be fed up of being called a bad defensive team, you know, 719 00:40:35,599 --> 00:40:37,119 and they might be like, hey, you know, let's actually do 720 00:40:37,159 --> 00:40:38,639 it this year. So never know. If I was a betting man, 721 00:40:38,679 --> 00:40:44,039 I bet them being somewhere in near the same where they were. We've reached 722 00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:46,119 the quick hitter ports of the podcast before I get you, okay, when 723 00:40:46,119 --> 00:40:51,039 you've a quick hitter, when you look at this roster and things can change 724 00:40:51,079 --> 00:40:52,119 so much during the season, but as of right now, who do you've 725 00:40:52,199 --> 00:40:57,159 used the player most likely to be traded before the deadline? Are we talking 726 00:40:57,159 --> 00:41:00,800 about not Kyrie? It could be if you really think that it's most likely 727 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:07,719 that might that might get aggregated. Yeah. I mean it's tough, man, 728 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:13,599 because I'm looking at this roster and what are you getting for other guys? 729 00:41:13,679 --> 00:41:15,760 You know, like, are you trading a guy like Clackson, Because 730 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,960 I don't think you're trading him number one even if there's not enough minutes, 731 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,960 because you want to build a future with him, right, you know, 732 00:41:23,159 --> 00:41:28,199 maybe a guy like Davron Sharp gets traded because there's not enough minutes for him, 733 00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,840 and another team might actually be willing to pay the price of a of 734 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:35,360 a veteran wing, right whatever they can get a veteran wing in exchange for, 735 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,840 and at this point that's probably one of some of their prospects. So 736 00:41:37,119 --> 00:41:40,639 maybe a guy like Kesler Edwards that maybe a guy like Dayron Sharpe get packaged 737 00:41:40,679 --> 00:41:45,119 if they can get that veteran wing to back up Joe Harris. But those 738 00:41:45,159 --> 00:41:50,119 are all, you know, I don't think that those are more likely than 739 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,239 a situation where Kyrie doesn't want to get the vaccine and the Nets don't want 740 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,360 them to be a part time player, you know, like and from that 741 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,320 point, there's that's an impast right, There's no way that the Nets can 742 00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,360 come down from wanting him to get vaccinated. That's not possible. And there's 743 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:06,400 no other way for him to get onto the court unless he plays for a 744 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:10,239 team that doesn't have that vaccine mandate in that city. So it's tough, 745 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:15,440 you know, I'm thinking about the rest of the roster. They're not built 746 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,159 for a trade. Like, do you have their three biggest stars, then 747 00:42:17,199 --> 00:42:21,159 there's Joe Harris who has like that mid end salary, but you shouldn't be 748 00:42:21,159 --> 00:42:23,519 moving Joe Harris, especially with the Kyrie stuff going on, and then they 749 00:42:23,559 --> 00:42:27,880 just have a bunch of all these smaller salaries, and so yeah, I 750 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,599 just look at it as Javon Carter because I'm not sure what type of role 751 00:42:30,599 --> 00:42:32,000 actually have with the team. Maybe they want to cut their tax bill, 752 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:37,360 maybe they're able to get a cheaper wing, you know, for him. 753 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,199 So but they don't look like they're built for a trade, And the answer 754 00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:43,480 might actually be Kyrie Irving at this point, which is just wild that we're 755 00:42:43,519 --> 00:42:45,159 here. It is, And you know, if you would have asked me 756 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,000 last season. I would have said Joe Harris just because of how poorly he 757 00:42:49,119 --> 00:42:52,920 performed in the playoffs. But we know that Joe Harris is not going to 758 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:54,079 be judged on the regular season, right, so if he gets traded, 759 00:42:54,039 --> 00:42:57,840 it will be next offseason because he had a poor playoffs. Again, I 760 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,199 don't see them trading him between now and the trade unless he just comes out 761 00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:05,079 and shoots thirty two percent from downtown between now in February, which I don't 762 00:43:05,079 --> 00:43:09,400 see happening. What is this? What should be this team's go to crunch 763 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:14,840 time lineup? And if you want, you know, there's the Kyrie should 764 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:16,159 be in there, but I think we kind of have to, you know, 765 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,760 there's to me, the crunch time lineup is like the starting line up. 766 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,280 We should have four locks with Kyrie, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant and 767 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:25,360 James Harden. I'm curious as to enclosing situations. Do you think the fifth 768 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:30,239 should be Nicholas Claxton, Should it still be Blake at the five? Maybe 769 00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:35,440 more Paul Millsap. That's an interesting question, and part of me wants to 770 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,440 kind of see how this team plays through like five or ten games, just 771 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:42,159 to get a sense of who's actually in that rotation and what different you know 772 00:43:42,199 --> 00:43:45,559 what I'm saying lineups look like, but just kind of going into a blind 773 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:47,400 I like what they ran last year, you know. I like Blake Griffin 774 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:51,800 at the five, Kevin Durant the floor, Joe and then and then Kyrie 775 00:43:52,199 --> 00:43:53,639 and then and then James. You know, that was a lineup that could 776 00:43:53,639 --> 00:43:57,119 have won them a championship if they would have stayed healthy. They didn't, 777 00:43:57,119 --> 00:44:00,719 so here they are again. But I think that lineup Orterason, Blake wood 778 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:01,639 Nick Is is cool. You know what I'm saying, you could do that, 779 00:44:01,679 --> 00:44:04,960 But I like what Blake brings. He's tough. He's a guy who's 780 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,000 going to dive on the floor for every single loose ball. And on top 781 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,320 of that, he's still trying to dunk on people and let them know that 782 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:14,679 he can still dunk at that, you know, so it's hilarious. I 783 00:44:14,679 --> 00:44:17,280 think that's the line of them. And then if Kyrie's not there, man, 784 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,400 that changes a whole lot. I think. You I think, then 785 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:24,280 you go Patty Mills next to James Harden, next to Joe Harris, next 786 00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:30,199 to k D next to next to Blake, that line playing zero defense, 787 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:34,079 Yeah, or or you or you swap out Kyrie for Bruce Brown. I 788 00:44:34,079 --> 00:44:36,880 think that that also makes sense, especially if Bruce Brown's hitting three. Is 789 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,760 that don't make sense because then Bruce can guard the one. You're Steve Nash 790 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:44,679 or Kevin Durant, who's ever calling the shots in game? You can roll 791 00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:47,599 out any lineup you want. Weird offbeat just to see what happens. What 792 00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:52,519 WI five man combination or are you going with? Oh, I'm going all 793 00:44:52,559 --> 00:44:58,239 offense. We're going Cam Thomas, We're going James Harden, We're going Kyrie, 794 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,920 We're going KD. I think we're gonna Kadi at the five, and 795 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:06,400 we're gonna put Joe Harris out there as well. We're completely spacing out the 796 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:08,519 floor. I don't think we see enough Kadi at the five. You know, 797 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:10,840 I love that. I love what he's able to. He's just like 798 00:45:12,039 --> 00:45:14,199 so versatile. He's gonna space you out, he could post you up, 799 00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:16,079 he can dunk on you, he can do whatever. He'll defend too. 800 00:45:16,199 --> 00:45:19,559 I mentioned the previous sign up will play no defense, but him and Joe 801 00:45:19,599 --> 00:45:23,199 Harris will compete on the defensive end for sure, maybe not so much. 802 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:28,280 Joe Harris will try, but it'll still hit burn. He tries though there's 803 00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:31,119 like a there, there's there, there is effort there, and he probably 804 00:45:31,119 --> 00:45:35,079 guards players that he shouldn't have to guard at this point. That too. 805 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:37,639 That too, I think I think if Kyrie's out, then that then that 806 00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:40,039 also goes out because Kyrie is hiding on defense a lot of time. You 807 00:45:40,239 --> 00:45:45,599 you actually picked my five man unit. I believe I had Kyrie, James 808 00:45:45,599 --> 00:45:50,400 Harden, Cam Thomas not Stewart, Joe Harrison, and Kevin Durant without Kyrie 809 00:45:50,519 --> 00:45:53,000 there, I keep those four same guys and then just throwing Javon Carter. 810 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:58,280 Uh just I love he's like a bulldog and yeah, you could go Patty 811 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,159 Mills in that case to really yeah, I go Patty. I definitely go 812 00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:04,159 Patty. It's something about Patty that I just love. I can't wait to 813 00:46:04,159 --> 00:46:06,840 actually see him play in some some significant mants. I think he's gonna be 814 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,880 huge for this team this year. The I also thought of a like sort 815 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:14,239 of a fuck you line up where they go super big, where you have 816 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:20,880 Paul millsapp, James Johnson, and Blake Griffin with Kevin Durant and James Harden. 817 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:22,880 That lineup is just super huge, and I know Millsapp becomes your day 818 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:28,480 facto three there, but you have all these like four or five types run 819 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,239 out a bunch of them at the same time. I need to see I 820 00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:35,800 don't need to see that. I think, okay, because then who's shooting 821 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:37,320 threes? Well, I guess James Harmens will shooting some threes, and I 822 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,400 guess Kdal shoots the threes. But then you got three non shooters out there, 823 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:44,960 and it gets tough. I still consider Millsap a non shooter. I 824 00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:46,639 don't think he's gonna be a volume guy. I don't know if he's gonna. 825 00:46:46,719 --> 00:46:50,360 I mean, he could be a shooter this year when you're playing with 826 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:53,760 k D and James hard and everybody, everybody's open. Johnson, Griffin, 827 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,440 and mills App will all shoot threes. But you're right that I don't think 828 00:46:57,440 --> 00:46:59,800 any of them are high volume enough to be like, oh this is this 829 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:01,800 is out. But they just have so many of those like Paul Millsapp, 830 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:07,360 James Johnson type players on this roster. Right now, go five biggs. 831 00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,679 I know, four bigs with KD. I don't care. I have KD 832 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:15,119 play the one. Yeah, look he might have to. When you look 833 00:47:15,159 --> 00:47:17,360 at the Tyree's not there, Like, who's the best passer is James Harden? 834 00:47:17,639 --> 00:47:24,400 Their second best passer is like last year? Yes, that's pretty good 835 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:28,679 to me. Obviously, I saw him make some crazy passes that had me 836 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:32,320 question if I was evaluating kd as the right type of player, because I've 837 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:36,400 looked at him as a scorer first his entire life, and then I'm seeing 838 00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,360 him hit some cross court passes no look, understanding where his teammates are and 839 00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:42,400 throwing it to them ahead of time. I'm like, whoa, this man 840 00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:45,119 is acting totally different. But nah, that's that's who he is. He 841 00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:46,480 can he can make plays too. I wasn't hit, but I him now 842 00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:52,760 Kadi at the one. It's very it's coming. It's really so. I'm 843 00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,159 surprised this hasn't moved down. I'm surprised it's even available. But as we 844 00:47:55,199 --> 00:47:59,400 record this, their win total over under a set at fifty six point five. 845 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:02,719 What are you are you taking the over under for this team and just 846 00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:07,119 knowing everything that's going on, are they still going to finish number one or 847 00:48:07,199 --> 00:48:10,639 number two in the Eastern Conference? Oh? Man, that's so tough. 848 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:16,840 If Kyrie comes back. Man, at this point, there's no real path 849 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:21,119 for him to come back unless he goes get it, goes and gets the 850 00:48:21,119 --> 00:48:24,119 shot like tomorrow. Right, because from my understanding, NBA players only need 851 00:48:24,159 --> 00:48:29,679 one shot to be to be eligible, which is crazy because media and everybody 852 00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:32,199 else needs to be fourteen days after their second shot before they can be around 853 00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:37,960 anybody, which is mind boggling. But either way, if Kyrie is healthy, 854 00:48:38,119 --> 00:48:40,719 yes, I think I take the over every time. If Kyrie is 855 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:47,199 not healthy, I want to say they win at least fifty games, right, 856 00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,760 Yeah, No, I probably take the under. Yeah, if there's 857 00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:57,800 no Kyrie, I probably take the under. And if I have to bet 858 00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:02,920 today, not knowing whether Kyrie is going to be there or not, I 859 00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:07,480 probably take the under, probably get them fifty five. So I think I 860 00:49:07,519 --> 00:49:13,760 think without Kyrie they're still a title contender, but they're noticeably weaker or more 861 00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:16,079 vulnerable regular season team. Sure, yeah, no, one hundred percent, 862 00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:20,800 because you can catch one of those. It's very rare where you where you 863 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,960 would catch Kyrie and and k D and James on and off night. Right, 864 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:27,159 if one of those guys are having a cold night, the other two 865 00:49:27,159 --> 00:49:30,840 are probably either okay or they're great. Right now, if one of those 866 00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,159 guys is having a cold night and you don't have Kyrie, then you're putting 867 00:49:34,199 --> 00:49:36,920 a whole lot of pressure on one of the guy and on the other role 868 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,039 players who I mean, they let you down in the playoffs unfortunately, So 869 00:49:39,199 --> 00:49:43,039 can you really rely on them in high pressure situations in the in the regular 870 00:49:43,039 --> 00:49:45,280 season? I don't think so. Right. So, being built on that 871 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:50,440 star power, it made these guys bulletproof. And now with one of those 872 00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:52,719 stars down, it's like, hold, don't wait. I think we kind 873 00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:55,400 of have an opening. I think every team hasn't opening now because the next 874 00:49:55,639 --> 00:49:59,599 biggest flaw last year was that they didn't They just didn't play hard enough. 875 00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:01,519 Being hire season. If they would have played hard enough the entire season, 876 00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:06,320 they might be champion champions right now because they could have finished the one seed 877 00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:07,760 and then duck Milwaukee in the in the second round. They could have had 878 00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:13,719 a completely different outcome. So it's gonna be tough, man. This is 879 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,760 not how I envisioned this season going. I did not envision having this type 880 00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:20,719 of the headache, didn't envision this type of drama. But here we are, 881 00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:23,840 man, and I gotta cover it. Is there anything I did not 882 00:50:24,039 --> 00:50:27,880 ask you about this team or anyone I didn't ask you about that you think 883 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:34,480 should be discussed. Anyone that you didn't ask me about that I think should 884 00:50:34,519 --> 00:50:37,599 be discussed. I guess if you have like really strong Kessler Edwards or Dayron 885 00:50:37,679 --> 00:50:43,880 sharpcakes, we talked a lot about camp. You know, I'm still looking 886 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:45,159 for that guy on the roster. He'll pop up there somewhere. You know. 887 00:50:45,239 --> 00:50:49,320 Damron Sharp is a guy that I think has a chance in the league. 888 00:50:49,599 --> 00:50:51,920 You know, late late first round pick. But he's a guy that's 889 00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:55,000 going to be a high volume rebounder for a long time. And he's trying 890 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:58,679 to get that jump shot off too, so so I look forward to being 891 00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:00,440 able to cover him late. Griffin was actually joking around a little. He 892 00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:04,639 said they were playing pick up in practice, and he said that he gets 893 00:51:04,719 --> 00:51:07,360 day Ron didn't realize that, and pick up, you don't really crash the 894 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:09,199 offensive glass as crazy as you're supposed to. So you caught a couple of 895 00:51:09,239 --> 00:51:12,679 elbows from him while he was like crashing from the three point line. It 896 00:51:12,719 --> 00:51:14,840 was crazy, but that's the type of player he is. He's going to 897 00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:16,519 try to crash the glass from wherever he is on the floor and if you're 898 00:51:16,519 --> 00:51:21,480 in his way, you're gonna pay. If he's getting minutes outside the GLA 899 00:51:21,639 --> 00:51:23,800 for this team, something has gone terribly wrong. Sure, yeah, one 900 00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:28,119 hundred percent, because if Nick Claxton can't find minutes, how the hell did 901 00:51:28,159 --> 00:51:31,360 day Ron sharp Christian? Are you able to tell our listeners where they can 902 00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:35,960 follow you on Twitter and find all your great work? Hell yeah, you 903 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,239 can find me on Twitter at Chris Splash that's k r R s P l 904 00:51:38,280 --> 00:51:40,920 A s h e D. You can also find me as a co host 905 00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:45,440 of the Certified Buckets podcast on Uninterrupted. Shout out to my co host, 906 00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:49,440 Lethal Shooter and ask Nicole Mos it's really dope. And you can find my 907 00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:51,239 work in the New York Daily News. If you're in New York, go 908 00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:54,159 pick up a paper, flip to the back page and look for a handsome 909 00:51:54,159 --> 00:51:58,320 man and you'll find some work by me. Otherwise, you just go go 910 00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:01,519 to New York Daily News dot com, sports slash basketball, slash nets. 911 00:52:01,559 --> 00:52:06,119 I think that's where it is, and that's basically my land right there, 912 00:52:06,159 --> 00:52:09,239 so check me out. Well, congrats again on the Certified Buckets gig with 913 00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:13,039 Uninterrupted. You deserve it. You do great work to the Daily News, 914 00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:15,119 happy we were able to do this. You are the most elusive man in 915 00:52:15,159 --> 00:52:19,000 sports, but you do not care. I will be it, text you 916 00:52:19,039 --> 00:52:22,719 to no end and you never care. I appreciate that, and thank you 917 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:24,519 so much for coming on. Oh my god, thank you for having me 918 00:52:24,519 --> 00:52:25,159 browing its own