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INSTATCRT Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden Colorado. Hello and welcome to

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the latest episode of Hardwood Offs.
This is Adam Frommel here with my co

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host Dan for Valley, and we
have a lot to talk about in the

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wake of all the changes made to
rosters, both through the NBA trade deadline

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and the ensuing bar Our buyout market
that is still in progress. So we'll

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be going over some most of those
moves and what they have done to the

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NBA Finals Chase in both conferences.
We'll figure out if we think that massive

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swings have occurred or if these are
more minor transactions that might seem bigger than

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they are because of the names,
the magnitude of the names involved. But

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before we get into any of that, Dan, how's it going. It's

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going great because I was able to
tweet out the link this time while you

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were doing that intro. It is
done. It's out there to the masses.

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I'm proud of that. How are
you doing. I'm good. I'm

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coming off a fantastic morning, Sue. The t Rex the exhibit is in

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Denver, where I'm at. So
we took our two year old, who

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is obsessed with dinosaurs to see this
gigantic, full sized t rex with skin

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eating it at Montasaurus in its mouth, and he was obsessed and didn't want

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to leave, and we spent like
two hours in the museum and he absolutely

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loved it. So, coming off
a great morning, is he still like

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our dinosaurs like hardcore his thing?
Oh? Absolutely. It is astonishing how

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many different kinds of dinosaurs he knows, and if I mispronounce any of them,

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he will correct me. It is
really, really humiliating to hear a

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toddler say, actually, Daddy,
that is a diplodocus, not a brachiosaurus.

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Your kid is a genius. That
is not something that I would ever

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have doubted. Look, let's get
started with just before we get to our

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we have a ton of questions for
the mail bag. But what do you

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want to just segue straight from dinosaurs
into an NBA dinosaur with Andre Drummond.

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Yes, let's do that. What
did you look? That's a big question

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though. What do you think of
LaMarcus Aldred's to the the Nets and Andre

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Drummond to the Lakers. It seems
like Gorgi Jang it doesn't seem like he's

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signed with the Spurs. Austin Rivers, it seems like he's headed to the

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Bucks. I do believe we tend
to overrate what buyout candidates are, like

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how much of an impact they're going
to have. But I'm curious as to

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whether you especially like or dislike any
of these or is there do spot one

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that you think is going to be
a real difference. Yeah, I actually

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think the Drummond one is the biggest
difference maker for me, which I didn't

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really anticipate. Saying, but I
see the benefits there. I don't think

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it's a perfect fit. I don't
think he's this game changing, title race

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altering addition that they're making midway through
the season. But I see the benefits

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because he is an incredible rebounder,
which makes a difference in any game when

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he's engaged. He can be a
decent defender around the basket. He has

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a little switchability out on the perimeter, he can handle the ball at the

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top of the key and initiate offense
from different places. None of that is

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that exciting, But the biggest factor
is the physicality that he brings, and

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in doing so, the physical toll
that he can take away from Anthony Davis

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and Lebron James, who have not
stayed healthy this season. So even if

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he's only playing fifteen to twenty minutes
per game, but he's matching up against

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a big body and ensuring that Davis
isn't going to have to do that.

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Look, we've talked for years about
how Anthony Davis is best at the five,

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and that's where he's going to play
in the biggest moments. But just

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the ability to have that other option, especially because marcasoul hasn't stayed healthy.

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I do think that matters with the
LaMarcus Aldred signing. I don't get that

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one. Like Aldred is clearly not
the same player, and what need does

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he fill for the nets? Like, Okay, he's a good midrain shooter,

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he can occasionally take some threes,
he's not a good defender. So

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that just kind of compounds the weakness
that already exists. And why is he

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going to get touches on a team
that has Kyrie Irving, James Harden,

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and Kevin Durant when they're all healthy. Like, I just I don't see

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how that one makes much sense.
And it's also it's just like they signed

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two people that probably hurt their defense
more than anything. Yeah, they're still

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going to be I've talked about leaning
into the offense, but that's different,

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Like that means getting like spot up
shooters, not other ball dominant, big

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bad right, And you know they
are playing Blake Griffin with Nick Claxton right

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now. I don't think that's gonna
last long term. They've done fine with

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it. But if that's the way, you're going to make sure that Nick

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Claxton is still in the rotation,
But you are going to see some Blake

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Griffin at the four. They just
have so many options with When you look

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at their final five at full strength, we know it's gonna be KD,

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Kyrie, James Harden. I would
argue Joe Harris should just be Pencilton as

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the fourth, but I don't know
that they will. You know, they

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could be if they've decided to play
you know, Blake Griffin with Claxton or

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if they decide to play Jeff Green
with Claxton. They do, just if

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we pencil Joe Harris in, though
there are just so many different ways they

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could go. Does LaMarcus or Blake
or Claxton or DJ or Bruce Brown or

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Jeff Green closes that fifth? There
are six different options, And yeah,

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that allows you to fiddle with matchups. But I just wonder having Blake and

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both Blake and LaMarcus Aldridge there.
I know they're not the same players.

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But two things and one was pointed
out by the Athletics set part. Now

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that these bigger name buyout candidates,
they tend to get leeway with their new

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teams or the teams try and see
if there's still that player that they used

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to be, which can often be
detriment to the team, and that makes

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me wonder just how much playing time
is LaMarcus going to get and Blake going

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to get long term, and then
are you going to be comfortable enough to

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have both of them on the bench
during crunch time or is it going to

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be a situation where we can always
expect at least one of them to be

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on the floor sort of as like, you know, to be diplomatic about

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it. And I just don't know
if that's okay. I hope that's not

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the case, because I think the
ideal closing lineup is Kyrie Irving, James

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Harden, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant
and Nick Claxton. I gives you the

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most defensive firepower, he gives you
the most energy. I just don't know

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what Griffin or Aldridge adds at this
point that wasn't already on the roster.

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Like, yay, more big names. We can make social media graphics about

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how loaded with stars this Brooklyn Nets
team is, but like there are stars

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that have kind of withered up.
Yeah, I'm with you. I actually

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think that there's a chance Jang if
he's gonna play in San Antonio, they

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have minutes that they can give away
at the five. I know they have

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you know, Peartles really good,
they have you Banks, they have some

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onag. I don't know. They
do tend to play him at the four,

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I think for the most part,
so I actually think it could be

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Awesome Rivers that has like the biggest
impact. Yeah, he look he tapered

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off a lot in New York,
but he was really good at the start

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of the season when they were dealing
with some injuries and he was dealing with

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injuries himself. I believe just someone
another guy who can dribble. I think

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you trust him to run an offense
or just to pick and roll more than

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a Bryn Forbes, and he's going
to give you more defensively to where when

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I look at the Bucks right now, I think they're closing five ends up

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being Yannis Drew Middleton, and then
there are really two open spots there.

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I think maybe given the way that
they want to try to defend and create

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more portability, that you can throw
PJ Talk, but it's gonna be PJ

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Tucker a Brook Lopez. There still
seems to be like that fifth spot open,

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where is it gonna be Dante di
Vincenzo. Could it be as to

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the extent that we need him to. Yeah, he I think defensively,

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he's probably the best of the three
options between Forbes and Austin Rivers. But

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I could see Austin Rivers closing some
meaningful games for Milwaukee, especially because I

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think they would air towards that end
of the spectrum. Because Austin Rivers can

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and will create his own shot.
It doesn't always happen efficiently, it doesn't

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always happen when you want it to. But he can create his own shot,

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and he's willing to do so.
And given the struggles they've had in

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each of the last two postseasons,
when defenses compress around Jannis and they need

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other players to get their own looks, I can see Milwaukee airing on that

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side. Yeah, I agree with
it. The Omish didn't post trade deadline.

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It was a busy deadline. I
saw people complaining that it wasn't a

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good deadline. There were sixteen deals
from midnight March twenty fifth through that three

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pm, so there was a lot
of action. I do think twenty three

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teams right, Yeah, it was. It was basically pretty much most of

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the league, more than two thirds
of the league made a deal. And

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so this is the question as we
get into this mail bag that I'm going

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to use as the trigger for the
larger title race discussion. It comes from

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Myer roth Bomb. He asked,
how do you see the Eastern comments regular

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season panning out? And just looking
sort of at the larger pet question of

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though, how do you think that
the trade deadline impacted the title race at

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all? If we went through the
top five top seven contenders, like,

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how would you be ranking those at
the moment? In the Eastern general?

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Are we talking about the top five
or seven contenders? Let's break it up

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by conference there. Yeah, I'm
not sure it changed that much. In

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the East, Lou Williams, the
Hawks gives them more firepower off the bench,

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which is an area they've struggled in
since Trey Young arrived, just creating

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that same level of offensive potency when
he's not on the floor. But I

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still don't think they're at the level
of the seventy six ers, the Nets

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or the Bucks at full strength.
I think the biggest impact is probably that

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you can make more convincing arguments that
the Celtics and the Heat, who have

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both been these middling five hundred level
teams are going to re enter that picture

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because Evan Fournier is a great pickup
for the Celtics. Victor Oladipo if he's

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healthy, could make a big impact
on the Heat. Neither of those are

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really guaranteed to come to fruition,
but I think that there are more compelling

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cases to be made that all of
a sudden, this Eastern Conference race is

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more of a six or seven team
race for those top spots than just those

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three teams and then a big drop
off before everyone else. I think there's

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gonna be that historic of a drop
off. I think there was. I

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think that that gap could be closed
a little bit, but I think that

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there is still a gap between them. Like there's a pretty clear cut delineation

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between those tiers even after the trade
market. So what would you what's can

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you just run through that first tier
again? For me? Yeah, I

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think the seventy six ers, the
Nets, and the Bucks are the obvious

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class of the Eastern Conference. I
think that the Hawks, the Celtics,

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the Heat, maybe even the Chicago
Bulls would belong in that second tier.

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You can throw the knicks in that
pin at the bottom if you want to,

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though, I think we still have
questions about the sustainability of the defense,

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even though they deserve credit for maintaining
it this far into the season.

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I might be willing to throw Miami
in there now post Oladipo. It feels

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like he has not been good this
year, but they feel like the team

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that would unlock him. I guess
you can't put them there now. They

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have they might have the most potential
of any team that's that's left there to

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crack that tier. That feels like
a distinct possibility for them more so than

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you know, I don't think the
Celtics after Evan Fournia get there. Uh,

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the decision to trade Daniel Tie,
that's still just they needed to figure

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out if they were going to duck
the tax, like you needed to figure

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out another way to do it.
That's just we're just like, don't duck

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the tax if you want to compete. You know. Maybe the reality,

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though is that they were going through
because you have Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum

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and Kemba and like next year once
Tatum's deal kicks in. So I get

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it, but there had to be
enough if you were going to do it.

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There had to be another way,
right, I'm totally with you.

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I agree with your Eastern Conference hears. I think at the top though,

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between Philly, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee, I don't I feel like there's this

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tendency to say, well, when
Brooklyn's at full strength, they're just going

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to be the number one. I
can't talk myself, and I might even

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go as far as saying I like
both Philly and Milwaukee in a playoff series

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at full strength more than I do
Brooklyn, and the defense really does bother

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me. I know it's the I'm
not trying to downplay having Kadi, Kyrie

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and Harden. There's the element of
they're going to score so much at all,

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all minutes, all seconds of the
game that it doesn't matter. Still,

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when you look at how those teams
can match up with them, and

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Milwaukee in particular is interesting here now
too, just having Chris Middleton, Janice,

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You've Dante devencenso there, you have
Drew Holiday. I can't believe I

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didn't name him like close enough to
that, and then in Philly you have

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Thible and Simmons with embad on the
back line. Danny Green doesn't suck on

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defense either, So those are two
teams I think can give them problems,

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where No, Simmons is probably the
only one of anybody who's gonna shut down

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one of the stars, if if
that's even a thing, I don't know

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if you can put. Janie has
never been just he's gonna shut down one

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guy. That's just not how he
plays down the team than one guy.

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Yeah, and maybe Drew, But
I would say that Simmons is probably the

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best individual defender of that bunch,
if that makes any sense. So if

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you were telling me that all those
teams were full strength as currently constructed,

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I would I'd probably be picking Philly
and seven, Milwaukee and seven over Brooklyn.

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I'm right there with you. I
know that I've shared my concerns about

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Brooklyn in previous episodes, and I
think that those were compounded by these buyout

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additions, where like adding Blake Griffin
and LaMarcus Aldridge doesn't necessarily make them worse,

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but it increases the volatility of the
outcomes where Okay, you have a

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marginal benefit on offense, but you're
also leaning further into this offensive style at

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the expense of the defense, and
without really making the offense better, because

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again they're not spot up guys who
complement the incumbent stars perfectly. So if

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you have these offensive nights when you
almost feel obligated to give minutes to Aldrige

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and Blake Griffin at the expense of
Nick Klaxton and the other guys on that

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roster who can make some sort of
defensive impact, that worries me, Like,

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yeah, it increases their ceiling,
but I also think that it lowers

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the floor more that it increases the
ceiling. Yeah, I mean that's probably

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00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,000
a good way to frame it,
or at least adjustifiable way to frame it.

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So would it surprise me at all
if Brooklyn emerged from the East?

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Absolutely not, Like it's so easy
to see the Nets just going on an

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absolute scorch tear through the entire conference
and emerging through without losing a game.

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It's also very feasible for them to
lose to one of these other great teams,

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and I think it's more feasible that
they lose. It's not necessarily more

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likely to happen, but it's even
easier to justify. Do you see any

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other team that could crack the actual
they're a legitimate championship contender in the East.

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Is there another team for you that
you think has a puncher's chance of

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doing that. I think the Heat
could just because that once the rotations can

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press in the postseason and Eric Spoelstra
stops experimenting and starts seeing the fruit of

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00:15:39,759 --> 00:15:45,799
that experimentation, the Heat are always
more dangerous. If Oladipo is a good

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00:15:45,799 --> 00:15:48,559
fit, if Jimmy Butler and bam
Adebayo are healthy, that's a whole lot

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of top end talent right there.
And we already saw the kind of run

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that the Heat could go on last
season when they advanced to the finals.

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Like they do have those crunch time
shot makers, even if they aren't all

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efficient over the course of the regular
season. So I think they'd be my

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number one answer there, and then
it would be between the Hawks and the

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Celtics on the cusp of entering that. I think that even though the Hawks

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have been a disappointment this season,
and at the time of recording before they

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play the Nuggets on Sunday night,
they're twenty three and twenty two, but

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they've been dealing with so many injuries
throughout the season and we still haven't really

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gotten a full picture of what they
look like when fully healthy. For an

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extended period of time. There is
still enough talent there that I could see

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it somehow, but I'm more hesitant
to put them into that group. Yeah,

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Miami is like the only one for
me. I know, Boston's really

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heavy at the top. I just
they feel like there's still a player away.

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It does, and I don't know
who that play. Everyon Fornia is

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00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:45,240
going to help him out a bunch, to be clear, like just to

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give them another ball handler, a
shooter, or someone to create their own

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shot. I would agree with you
that it's Miami. So looking at the

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West, then how does your contender
hierarchy work out there? And they would

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00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,639
probably look. I think you can
talk yourself into at least five teams being

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contents here, right. I mean, I know you're talking about the Jazz,

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the Souns, the Clippers, of
Lakers, and the Nuggets. So

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within that group, what really changed? We talked about drama at the top.

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I think that could be a marginal
benefit in the playoff went come playoff

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time, the Aaron Gordon moved for
the Nuggets is the biggest difference maker,

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00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:22,920
and I could see how that move
alone could push Denver up a few pegs

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in that hierarchy. Wherever you had
Denver going in, it's still such a

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00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:34,039
jumbled mess that I'm not really sure. It feels difficult to order those five

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teams both before and after the deadline, and I'm not sure that Aaron Gordon

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alone does enough to like convincingly change
it. Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto

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00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:52,279
Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler,
and Thomas Hearns legends whose four way rivalry

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00:17:52,279 --> 00:17:57,200
define one of the greatest errors in
boxing history, relive their decade of dominance

263
00:17:57,279 --> 00:18:02,720
in the new Showtime Sports document Enery
the Kings, a four parts series premiering

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00:18:02,759 --> 00:18:10,279
Sunday, June sixth, only on
Showtime. So for me, it does

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00:18:10,519 --> 00:18:15,559
only because and there's going to be
noise in here. But the Yokich Michael

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Porter Junior front court has been quicking, and not just offensively either. The

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defensive numbers on that combination it's only
six hundred and twelve possessions, but Denver

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00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:32,480
ranks in the eighty fifth percent tile
of points allowed per one hundred possessions.

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Opponents are not hitting their threes in
this situation, so that's something to consider.

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But if you're that high across this
big of it, like six hundred

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and twelve possessions is fairly for two
man combination. Maybe not, but it's

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like significant enough for me to think, Okay, this is suspicious with how

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stingy it is. But do we
have to start talking about it being sustainable?

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And now you're looking at it where
maybe you have Monte Morris, Jamaal

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Murray, Will Barton as your other
three, and you look at that and

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you go, okay, there's one
above average defender within that trio. Now

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you're throwing Aaron Gordon in there.
So it's Jamal Murray, Will Barton,

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00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,440
Aaron Gordon plus Torto Yokich is your
best five man unit. But you can

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00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,200
mix and match it where you know, maybe it's not Barton, maybe it's

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00:19:14,039 --> 00:19:15,680
Monte Morris is still there. Maybe
you do know PJ dojer if you want

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00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,079
to go super big or something,
they have a lot more options now to

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go up against some of these tougher
Western Conference teams. And I think specifically,

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00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,119
yeah, you're probably still going to
run into the if you were to

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00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,440
play Portland. You know who's going
to defend Dame is that that's not going

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00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,400
to be Aaron Gordon. Exactly how
it was going to respond same with like

286
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,599
Devin Booker and Chris Paul if they
end up playing Phoenix, or Donovan Mitchell

287
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:42,039
and Mike Conley. Like the backcourt
combinations are maybe more concerning without Gary Harris,

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00:19:42,799 --> 00:19:45,720
but I think you have the more
important position covered now with Aaron Gordon,

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00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,720
where he's gonna give you three,
three, four five. So if

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00:19:49,759 --> 00:19:53,240
I was to go through really quickly, how I think that the contention thing.

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And look, the thing that I
also want to mention here, I

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don't know how to view the Lakers
anymore Lebron and ad because when you're ranking

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00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,039
contenders, this has to be a
just looking at us. Who has the

294
00:20:04,039 --> 00:20:07,920
best chance I think, first and
foremost to come out of their conference because

295
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getting to the finals is a huge
part of winning the championship, and that's

296
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,200
the first huge step. If the
Lakers are going to be healthy, I

297
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,160
guess they're still the favorite. But
right now we know Lebron's going to be

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00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:22,200
out another month at least, and
their fourth in the West. They are,

299
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,599
you know, five games away from
play in territory six and a half.

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00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,079
Excuse me, so I think they'll
stay out of Oh no, they're

301
00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,559
only they are only four and a
half games out of play in territory,

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00:20:32,559 --> 00:20:34,920
which would be the seventh spot.
I just don't know if it matters more

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00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,200
for them that they wind up there, or if it matters more for a

304
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,279
team like the Jazz or the Suns
that now of a sudden they might have

305
00:20:40,279 --> 00:20:45,119
to play the Lakers in the first
round. So if the Lakers aren't full

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00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,480
strength, I still think they're the
best team. My second team is the

307
00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:55,400
Suns, My third team is the
Nuggets, My fourth team is the Jazz.

308
00:20:55,559 --> 00:20:59,119
My fifth team is the Clippers as
of right now, and I feel

309
00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:03,279
like I might be under valuing the
Clippers and their crunch time offense has gotten

310
00:21:03,319 --> 00:21:04,799
better, but they've still been a
mess defensively there. I don't know that

311
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,559
Rondo fixes enough of what they ail
them, even when you're looking at him

312
00:21:08,599 --> 00:21:15,400
through a playoff lens and I feel
very odd, if stupid to put a

313
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,759
team that has both Kawhi Leonard and
Paul George to the idea. And I

314
00:21:18,759 --> 00:21:21,960
know Paul George stuggled, but those
two players, like you want those two

315
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,039
players in the postseason, the idea
of them are the perfect postseason building block

316
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:30,880
archetypes. It feels really weird to
have the Clippers at fifth, doesn't it

317
00:21:32,039 --> 00:21:34,599
right? And a part of that
is putting the Jazz fourth is disrespectful almost

318
00:21:34,759 --> 00:21:38,440
because they have the best record in
the league right now. I'm just I

319
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,519
think there's their offense will be fine. They just they have an element of

320
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,359
the same problem that the Nuggets did
of who is defending these wings? They

321
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,440
have it. I guess they have
it fined in the back court or smaller

322
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,519
wings because you have Royce O'Neill.
But who's going to defend those more even

323
00:21:53,519 --> 00:21:57,359
those more just athletic, bigger guards, Those bigger wings can wind up being

324
00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:03,480
an issue for them. You don't
trust he can take some charges. Matt

325
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,279
Thomas, maybe throw him. I
actually thought that was a fine pickup because

326
00:22:06,279 --> 00:22:10,000
he's under contract for next season.
But yeah, so I feel stupid putting

327
00:22:10,039 --> 00:22:12,480
them forth, just as port just
as Bailey's putting the Lakers fifth. I'm

328
00:22:12,519 --> 00:22:17,160
tempted to put the Nuggets second.
And look if the Lakers the ad stuff

329
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:18,640
is weird. You have Akill Hees
mentioned in there. They say he's like

330
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,680
two in weeks and change away.
Maybe he'll be fine. I'm keempted to

331
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,960
put the Nuggets or the Sun's up
top, and if I had to,

332
00:22:26,279 --> 00:22:27,279
if I had to say, who
do I think is going to be other

333
00:22:27,319 --> 00:22:30,000
than the Lakers the biggest threat.
I'm still all in on the Suns,

334
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,480
and that's they didn't make any moves
of the deadline. I think Tory Craig,

335
00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:36,960
he helps their depth out a little
bit, and he's actually been playing.

336
00:22:37,319 --> 00:22:40,920
They have questions up front with what
are you gonna do with Eightan's inconsistent?

337
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,839
Can you get away with darios charts
at the at the five in those

338
00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:47,119
situations, their guard depth, if
you don't trust Cameron Payne, they're they're

339
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,599
just they're question marks anywhere. But
I look at that roster, it is

340
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,640
deep. They can defend a bunch
of different ways, their long range,

341
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,319
shot making, roller coastere They're the
team that I'm watching that as the I

342
00:22:57,319 --> 00:23:00,359
don't know if you can call him
a dark horse when they're side in the

343
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,240
West. But of the non Lakers
group, the Suns and the Nuggets,

344
00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:06,319
for sure, those have to be
the two teams I think you're watching,

345
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:07,519
maybe even more so than the Jazz
at this point, which again is not

346
00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:11,119
meant to be disrespectful. It's just
that inkling that I have. I think

347
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,960
it's important just to emphasize once again
that when we're talking about these five teams,

348
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,720
like, even if they're fifth out
of the five, these are the

349
00:23:18,799 --> 00:23:22,279
obvious title contenders where we would not
be even remotely surprised by them making it

350
00:23:22,279 --> 00:23:26,559
to the NBA Finals. So,
like, take whatever perceived disrespect there is

351
00:23:26,559 --> 00:23:32,119
with that major grain of salt.
As for my order, I think I

352
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,440
can't doubt the full strength, the
full strength Lakers at this point. Like,

353
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,640
I don't know if they're going to
get there, but if we are

354
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,240
operating under the assumption that Lebron James
and Anthony Davis are actually good to go,

355
00:23:41,559 --> 00:23:44,839
I think they have to be in
that number one spot just based on

356
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,960
what we learned about them last year. My number two is still the Jazz.

357
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,839
I'm just I'm still really convinced by
the two way abilities of that team,

358
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,279
even if it didn't really need to
make major moves of the deadline.

359
00:23:56,279 --> 00:23:59,119
I mean, a thirty four and
eleven at this point, a thirty four

360
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,000
and eleven record at the stage of
the season speaks for itself, and they

361
00:24:03,079 --> 00:24:07,400
have been the best team in basketball
this season. I'm between the Suns and

362
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,319
the Nuggets for my third pick.
I think I'm gonna lean slightly towards the

363
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,480
Nuggets and that have the Suns as
a hesitant fourth and the Clippers at A.

364
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,119
I can't believe they're in fifth place, fifth place. So you have

365
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,480
a lot of hesitants all over the
place. Yeah, I mean, I

366
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:26,079
think they're all grouped so closely together. But this isn't This isn't a We're

367
00:24:26,559 --> 00:24:33,119
creating a narrative by grouping five teams
together into this top tier in the West.

368
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,160
It's like, this is legitimately like
a one A, one B,

369
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:41,799
one C, one D one E
situation, So I think hesitancy is inherent

370
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:47,680
to that situation. I think this
question sort of ties into the title discussion

371
00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:52,519
comes from Swan Suarez, who is
an underrated MVP candidate who should be higher

372
00:24:52,559 --> 00:24:59,920
up in the rankings. I struggle
with that question because I feel like under

373
00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:07,680
rain candidate is like a little bit
of an oxy moron, right my my.

374
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,559
I'll do with my gut answer,
then, which is honest, I

375
00:25:11,559 --> 00:25:15,400
don't I don't think that he gets
talked about enough in the discussion as he

376
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:22,759
should because he's the two time reigning
MVP. But from a purely objective standpoint,

377
00:25:22,279 --> 00:25:29,000
he and Yoki should be the front
runners right now. Yeah, I

378
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,039
would pick Yannest too. A little
bit that he hasn't received enough conversation because

379
00:25:33,079 --> 00:25:36,160
of voter fatigue, feels like,
and people still harp on what he can't

380
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,599
do, and that's fair. But
he's been carrying lineups more often without Brook

381
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,119
Lopez in them, so it's not
necessarily he's always the center. But if

382
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,759
it's Janie and Bobby Portis, like, that's a huge difference. And now

383
00:25:45,759 --> 00:25:48,079
it'll be Honest and PJ Tucker for
a lot of those stints, which you

384
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:52,000
like better on paper. If p
J. Tucker is going to be PJ.

385
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,440
Tucker, I think Dame. It's
also been the one where it felt

386
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,599
like people have made the argument for
Harden Lebron, even Jannest to a point,

387
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,480
kich and abide, Dame deserves to
be up there where the margin is.

388
00:26:03,519 --> 00:26:07,400
Yes, the Blazers are six in
the West, but they're have an

389
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,640
identical record to the Nuggets, and
he helped them navigate this stretch without use

390
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,359
of Narkis or CJ. McCollum,
and their offense falls up a cliff when

391
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,279
he's not on the floor, he
continues to be probably the clutches player in

392
00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:25,039
basketball when you just look at his
shooting splits in crunch time and the Blazers

393
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:30,319
are like nineteen and four when they
play games in the clutch. That's I

394
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,359
think, I believe it's the last
time I checked. I can look it

395
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,319
up really quickly. Is the highest
winning percentage in the NBA. And yeah,

396
00:26:34,319 --> 00:26:37,720
they are winning a lot of games
closely, but they're winning those games,

397
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:44,880
and so you wish they would play
better against those above five hundred teams.

398
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,480
Still, when you look at how
well they are with him on the

399
00:26:47,519 --> 00:26:48,599
court, and if you I don't
want to use that. I hate the

400
00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:55,119
word narrative, but just no,
it matters in this conversation. It shou

401
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,640
and it does. Yeah, So
there's and that's the thing too, is

402
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,400
just like this data is from a
couple of days ago, but his crunch

403
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,880
time number seventy percent on two's,
forty nine percent on threes, and a

404
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:10,960
perfect one hundred percent at the fount
line. That's just like this good.

405
00:27:11,519 --> 00:27:14,599
Yeah, and they're eighteen and six
excuse me, in close games. That's

406
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:19,279
the number I got wrong. So
yeah, I feel like you could easily

407
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,000
if someone votes Dame for first place
in the MVP race. I'm not gonna

408
00:27:23,039 --> 00:27:26,240
be mad about it. I would
have him in the top three right now.

409
00:27:26,279 --> 00:27:29,519
I think Lebron and e Bede are
gonna fall off by virtue of the

410
00:27:29,519 --> 00:27:33,880
time they miss and you're you're going
to look at I think it's gonna be

411
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,359
a Yogis Giannis Dame top three situation. Maybe Harden comes in and knocks Yannis

412
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,160
off because of the voter fatigue factor. Did you catch my screen pan down

413
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,839
there? Or were you looking away? I saw you pan down the screen.

414
00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:48,200
I didn't see what you did it
for. I'll do it again while

415
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,400
I talk there. It is what
time is my Dame time shirt on?

416
00:27:52,519 --> 00:27:56,720
Right now? I think the other
name who deserves to come up is Rudy

417
00:27:56,759 --> 00:27:59,720
Gobert. I don't think he's going
to win. I don't think he should

418
00:27:59,759 --> 00:28:02,559
win. I think he should be
on the back end of ballots. The

419
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,279
Jazz have been the best team in
basketball. He's the best player on that

420
00:28:04,319 --> 00:28:10,519
team. He is a defensive system
unto himself. He is a incredibly impactful

421
00:28:10,599 --> 00:28:15,559
offensive player despite his limitations. He's
again he's not going to win because this

422
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,400
is a team with Donovan Mitchell and
Mike Conley and depth of talent, but

423
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,240
he's been the best player on the
best team, and that typically garners some

424
00:28:22,319 --> 00:28:26,400
sort of respect in the MVP conversation. And unless you're talking to somebody from

425
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:32,240
Utah right now, he's not mentioned. Yeah, that's that's totally fair.

426
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:33,640
He has been you know, he
should be top ten on the ballot this

427
00:28:33,799 --> 00:28:37,680
year. He could probably change five
on the ballot. I would say,

428
00:28:37,079 --> 00:28:41,200
you think, I guess if you're
not gonna if you think if you're gonna

429
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,559
exclude Lebron and Gobert by virtue of
sample size, then yeah, that does

430
00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:48,440
seem fair. Yeah. Uh who, Let's let's stick with the MVP thing.

431
00:28:48,559 --> 00:28:56,039
Who's where's the question from Dustin five
weakest statistical NBA MVP candidate? Oh?

432
00:28:56,079 --> 00:28:59,400
He might be talking throughout history,
but I'm reading it as this year,

433
00:28:59,559 --> 00:29:03,599
who would be your weakest statistical candidate? Mm, if you look at

434
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:11,119
advanced metrics, it's probably game He's
probably it probably is He's gonna rank lower

435
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,200
in those advanced metrics than a lot
and even you know, when you're looking

436
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:19,079
at BPM things on those lines,
even Gobert could probably follower than that.

437
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,279
But that's those are the those are
the two that I would that would probably

438
00:29:25,279 --> 00:29:27,599
stand out the most to me if
we're considering them MVP candies. The strongest

439
00:29:27,599 --> 00:29:30,839
statistical case it is probably Yo kier
Janis. If we were to go to

440
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,720
the flip side of that spectrum,
Yeah, that's that's a tough one.

441
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:40,240
I'll I'll go to the historical side
of this question, I think, and

442
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,279
the answer that comes to mind right
away is probably west Unselt, who won

443
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,960
MVP and Rookie of the Year during
his first season with the Baltimore Bullets in

444
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,279
nineteen sixty nine while averaging thirteen point
eight points and eighteen point two rebounds.

445
00:29:52,279 --> 00:29:56,960
Like, he was a very impactful
rebounder and defensive presence on a Baltimore team

446
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:02,079
the one fifty seven games, But
that team was loaded with Earl Monroe and

447
00:30:02,119 --> 00:30:04,799
Gus Johnson and Jack Marrin and Kevin
Lowry, Like, there were a lot

448
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:11,119
of talented players, And I can't
imagine an MVP candidate in today's NBA or

449
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,799
really any time in the last few
decades who would win while averaging under fourteen

450
00:30:15,839 --> 00:30:18,599
points per game, like, not
trying to take credit away from him,

451
00:30:18,599 --> 00:30:25,599
like incredibly underrated historical player but that
is always going to stand out as an

452
00:30:25,599 --> 00:30:29,279
anomaly. That and Derrick Rose were
the first two who came to mind.

453
00:30:29,759 --> 00:30:33,200
He wouldn't even he wouldn't even win
six Man of a Year by averaging fourteen

454
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,880
points a game, it feels like
in this day. And that's not to

455
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,359
say that like scoring should be necessary
to win MVP, because it shouldn't be.

456
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:45,279
See a couple of minutes ago when
we talked about Ridy Gobert. But

457
00:30:45,799 --> 00:30:49,759
if you're talking about like purely from
an advanced numbers perspective, like it's generally

458
00:30:49,799 --> 00:30:55,200
harder to thrive in those when you're
not a scorer. Two Pelicans questions tied

459
00:30:55,279 --> 00:30:59,759
up here. The first one comes
from Kate Hornack. Where will Lonzo Ball

460
00:30:59,759 --> 00:31:03,079
play next year? What do you
expect his contract to look like? I

461
00:31:03,119 --> 00:31:07,440
think he's going to stay in New
Orleans, I do. I think the

462
00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:11,759
strides we've seen from him this year, the increasing on court chemistry that he

463
00:31:11,839 --> 00:31:15,680
has with Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson
all matter, and I would expect him

464
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,079
to be back on a multi year
deal at like eighteen million a year.

465
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,240
Yeah, that's the eighteen million.
It probably feels like the So when you're

466
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:30,000
a restricted free agent, you're go
teams. It's almost prohibited for other teams

467
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,799
to go after you because they're tying
up cap space in players that they're probably

468
00:31:34,839 --> 00:31:37,519
not going to get, because when
you want to bid on a restricted free

469
00:31:37,559 --> 00:31:40,920
agent, I mean, they're so
valuable that you're probably not going to get

470
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:45,319
him because his team is going to
match him. He has been ever since

471
00:31:45,359 --> 00:31:48,680
he was first mentioned in trade rumors, he has been in foego and that's

472
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,400
amounted to, you know, basically
the the entire season. At this point,

473
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,119
we're shooting above you know, since
then forty percent from three, very

474
00:31:57,519 --> 00:32:02,200
very comfortably. So I think when
you look at what he does as a

475
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,319
floor space or even if you don't
like the way the jump shot looks,

476
00:32:05,359 --> 00:32:07,480
still his IQ as a pastor even
though he can't run traditional pick and roll,

477
00:32:07,519 --> 00:32:09,759
and his ability to thrive as a
team defender, and they've even put

478
00:32:09,799 --> 00:32:14,319
him in some tough one on one
situations this year. My baseline would say

479
00:32:14,319 --> 00:32:16,559
if he signs for less than seventeen
eighteen million dollars a year, I'd be

480
00:32:16,599 --> 00:32:20,759
fairly shocked, because he does feel
like a player that another team with cap

481
00:32:20,799 --> 00:32:23,759
space will come in and pay just
to see what happens. Is it the

482
00:32:23,799 --> 00:32:28,440
Knicks? You know, that could
be a team I would expect answer,

483
00:32:29,319 --> 00:32:35,240
I would expect actually his offer sheet
to come in at like four eighty feels

484
00:32:35,279 --> 00:32:37,000
like the and I don't even know
that might be low You know, is

485
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,599
there's gonna be a team that comes
in at over twenty million dollars a year,

486
00:32:39,599 --> 00:32:43,200
it wouldn't shock me. I guess
you do have to consider the teams

487
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,640
that are gonna have cap space.
I don't think Charlotte's gonna go after him,

488
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,119
even though they have Lamello in there. The Knicks I think will definitely

489
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,039
be interested. Are the Heat going
to be interested? Probably not. Toronto

490
00:32:53,119 --> 00:32:55,279
could be sneaky. If they get
rid of Kyle Lowry, that would be

491
00:32:55,279 --> 00:32:59,160
a team to watch for me.
If he's another sneaky, fun one in

492
00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:02,720
Chicago, they're just not gonna have
cap space, though after they can find

493
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:07,079
a way to clear it up.
Though him, Lavine and Vvich is a

494
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,240
really fun core Well that's so.
But that's the other thing here is if

495
00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:15,720
he's not playing in New Orleans because
you if you aren't gonna match, then

496
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:17,599
you probably should have moved him at
the deadline because I definitely think you would

497
00:33:17,599 --> 00:33:21,279
have gotten a first round pick for
him. That's why you open up sign

498
00:33:21,359 --> 00:33:23,000
in trade scenarios, which is why
Chicago might come into play. If New

499
00:33:23,079 --> 00:33:27,240
Orleans really likes Lowry market in.
He can't be the only thing coming back

500
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,160
to New Orleans because I think Lonzo
Ball is substantially better at this point than

501
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,799
him, or he's just not even
I know, he's not the most dynamic.

502
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,119
Go ahead was Matthew Johnson the other
day who said he was like the

503
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:38,880
smartest point guard in the NBA?
Or am I totally making that up?

504
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,400
He did say that he was also
the guy that drafted him, so I

505
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:49,079
don't know, you know, but
he's look, I he's not the most

506
00:33:49,119 --> 00:33:52,359
dynamic point guard, because I'm not
endorsing that statement. By the way,

507
00:33:53,519 --> 00:33:55,519
his IQ was through the roof though, and you can look at the reasy

508
00:33:55,559 --> 00:34:00,960
makes and he's your Christall is alive. That's fair. Hi checked Chris Paul

509
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:06,519
exists, and I mean Lebron you
had to throw him in there. Yeah,

510
00:34:06,799 --> 00:34:09,679
he's basically a point guard. So
if if I had to pick with

511
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,960
Zion's really good when he's in the
ball. If I had to pick a

512
00:34:14,039 --> 00:34:16,280
salary for Lonzo Ballic season. I'm
gonna say he comes in at twenty one

513
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:22,440
million. If I had to pick
a team, I lean Pelicans, but

514
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,119
they're not They're just not the sexy
pick. If you're telling me he's going

515
00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:30,880
to start on a different team,
I'm going to say. I'd like to

516
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:32,440
say Toronto because it makes so much
sense if they lose Kyle Lowry. But

517
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,280
he's not going to Toronto. I'm
gonna say the Knicks. I think Lonzo

518
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,000
balls and Knick next year. Jed. I've heard that we need to have

519
00:34:38,039 --> 00:34:42,480
hotter takes though, so I'm going
to I'm gonna say Lonzo ball ends up

520
00:34:42,519 --> 00:34:46,280
on the Brooklyn Nets for forty million
a year. It's illegal on so many

521
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:52,559
levels. If you had to pick, though, you still that you don't?

522
00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:55,119
Yeah, and what was your salary
for him? You thought? I

523
00:34:55,119 --> 00:35:00,239
think eighteen a year. We'll see
he was closer, Matt if someone If

524
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,599
there's a team that you could envision
coming to max him just out of nowhere,

525
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,199
here's the max. I think it
starts like twenty seven, twenty seven

526
00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:10,519
and a half, depending on where
the cap lies. Is there a team

527
00:35:09,119 --> 00:35:15,239
right, Yeah, it probably is
the Knicks. I'm trying to think of

528
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:16,599
another. Yeah, it probably is. The Knicks, like, okay,

529
00:35:16,679 --> 00:35:22,079
see is not going to just come
out of nowhere with that. Rono won't

530
00:35:22,119 --> 00:35:25,719
do that. They aren't gonna have
cap space. But now you have RJ.

531
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,360
Hampton, Marquel Folts. You're starting
this rebuild you of Cole Anthony.

532
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:35,679
I don't think you do that.
It's and maybe that is marware. Maybe

533
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:37,199
that tries to market down I mean, and also again we're not even talking

534
00:35:37,199 --> 00:35:40,519
about signing trade scenarios. Is there
I could see the Hawks, I mean,

535
00:35:42,119 --> 00:35:45,719
you might have a better gauge of
the fit. Something built around John

536
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,480
Collins or if they really like Bogey, if he starts to play better than

537
00:35:49,559 --> 00:35:51,800
he has, could be something if
they won't to give up picks too.

538
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,880
And New Orleans is like trying to
straddle and they like they really like I

539
00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:00,280
don't know what at this point you
could tell me to convince me that John

540
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,039
Collins shouldn't stay so like. As
soon as I hear that, I just

541
00:36:04,119 --> 00:36:07,719
kind of bulk. I agree with
you. And he's improved offensively enough to

542
00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,920
where you can use him with Clint
Capela now and it makes a lot of

543
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,320
sense. We have another Pelicans question
too. This one comes from Leandry.

544
00:36:15,679 --> 00:36:20,360
Is stan Van Gundy the problem in
New Orleans or is it the front office

545
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,519
that's hurting the Pelicans. I'm assuming
he's just referring to there. They're coming

546
00:36:22,559 --> 00:36:27,360
off a pretty good win on Saturday
Night in which Zion just ran the crunch

547
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,719
time offense, by the way,
which is just do it. He doesn't

548
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:31,800
even need a screen anymore. Steven
Adams will come up to the screen and

549
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,119
he doesn't even need to use it
because he's just gonna go through guys.

550
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,000
But they are twenty and twenty five, their fourteenth overall in net rating,

551
00:36:38,079 --> 00:36:43,840
seventh and offense, twenty eighth in
defense, and thirty if an opponent effective

552
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,239
field goal percentage? How do you
who do you ascribe the most blamed to

553
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:52,800
in New Orleans? Easily the front
office. I look at the personnel that

554
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,039
they have on that team, and
I wonder, like, how you're supposed

555
00:36:57,039 --> 00:37:00,280
to have a great defense. I
look at the lack of shooters that they

556
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:07,039
have around the centerpieces of this building
effort, and I wonder how they're supposed

557
00:37:07,079 --> 00:37:10,840
to succeed at a high level.
And then I look at the improvement that

558
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:15,599
Zion Williamson has shown throughout his sophomore
season, and I wonder how you can

559
00:37:15,679 --> 00:37:22,840
possibly blame the coaching because he has
gone within the course of the same season,

560
00:37:22,039 --> 00:37:28,119
coming off the shortest offseason in American
professional sports history, and he has

561
00:37:28,159 --> 00:37:31,920
gone from not running any pick and
roll and thriving only as an off ball

562
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:38,880
weapon to being like essentially a primary
facilitator and offensive initiator and excelling at it.

563
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:44,840
And that's not something that happens without
quality player development and coaching. That's

564
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:47,360
the I mean, New Orleans is
never going to be a title contender this

565
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,920
year, like even the most optimistic
hopes, where hey, this is a

566
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,639
playoff team that might make little noise
in the first round if Zion is as

567
00:37:54,679 --> 00:38:00,639
good as we think he is,
which he is, and sure it's been

568
00:38:00,679 --> 00:38:06,039
disappointing. Like the most important thing
this team can do is have proper player

569
00:38:06,039 --> 00:38:10,639
development for their youngest contributors. Zion
has developed into an absolute scar and unstoppable

570
00:38:10,679 --> 00:38:15,760
force on offense. Lonzo Ball has
developed enough that he looks like a good

571
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,760
fit. Who can we can realistically
see him coming back or generating a twenty

572
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:25,559
million dollars per year salary elsewhere and
that's what they needed to see. Yeah,

573
00:38:25,639 --> 00:38:30,000
I agree with you that it's the
front office. It's just so weird

574
00:38:30,039 --> 00:38:32,440
to say, like some of the
things that are hampering them where it's you

575
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:36,079
know, give them more space to
work with, and yet they're seventh and

576
00:38:36,119 --> 00:38:38,760
offense and their tenth and half court
offensive efficiency right now. Still, I

577
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,559
think you can see it with Brandon
Ingram at points, even with Lonzo ball

578
00:38:42,559 --> 00:38:45,159
a little bit when the balls in
his hands, they need more space to

579
00:38:45,199 --> 00:38:47,800
operate than New Orleans has given them. Zion apparently just doesn't need any space

580
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:52,239
that he just doesn't. He's fine
as is, and so the decision to

581
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:58,239
give up value for and then extends
Steven Adams looms as big here. He's

582
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,920
made their defense slightly better when he's
on the court. But you're also probably

583
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,280
working from a superlow base line.
Well, you can probably criticize the coaching

584
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,840
staff for they give up an awful
lot of threes and they are essentially just

585
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:12,000
the worst team in the league at
defending three pointers. Yeah, they are

586
00:39:12,079 --> 00:39:15,239
thirtieth overall, and that matches up
with what I see. I'm actually surprised

587
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:19,039
that they're not lower in opponent corner
three point percentage. It seems like they

588
00:39:19,079 --> 00:39:22,599
give up too many of those that
you can put on the coaching staff.

589
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:27,199
They're also twenty seventh in rim protection
and so if that's what you were thinking

590
00:39:27,199 --> 00:39:30,480
that Steven Adams was going to give
you, you're now your port defending from

591
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:34,920
beyond the arc and at the rim. It's not noise in both spots,

592
00:39:35,159 --> 00:39:37,519
would be my argument, and I
do ascribe that to the front office.

593
00:39:37,559 --> 00:39:40,079
There's a lack of wings. I
don't know what type of flexibility. You

594
00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:44,119
weren't really working with any after the
Steven Adams trade. That being said,

595
00:39:44,119 --> 00:39:45,360
did you need to make the Steven
Adams trade? And I don't think he's

596
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:49,679
the problem, but it seems like
that prohibits them from doing so many other

597
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:53,400
things, and that their resources would
have been better off going after more wing

598
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:58,559
type players at this point and definitely
giving more space too. If Zion doesn't

599
00:39:58,559 --> 00:40:00,800
need it, fine, but Brandon
m Eric bletso Lonzo Ball, those are

600
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:04,880
guys that I think really need it. And perhaps you know, going to

601
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,440
New k Alexander Walker Moore and Kyra
Lewis is getting minutes, maybe that changes

602
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,639
a little bit. And by the
way, Kyra Lewis, I just haven't

603
00:40:10,679 --> 00:40:15,559
seen a ton of them this season
super fast, So just a blur.

604
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,719
So I do like this team,
but I'm with you. I think the

605
00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,599
blame has to fall on the front
office mostly here. I just I look

606
00:40:22,679 --> 00:40:28,400
at the roster and I wonder how
stan Van Gundy could craft a top level

607
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:30,559
defense. I mean, like,
are you are you playing Lonzo Ball with

608
00:40:30,639 --> 00:40:35,960
Sendarius Thornwell and Josh Hart and James
Johnson and Steven Adams. Okay, like,

609
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,079
great, we solved their defensive issues
and we're gonna score twelve points a

610
00:40:38,079 --> 00:40:42,920
game? Like what is he supposed
to do? There? There is?

611
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,199
So the one thing I will say
is they are just gonna run into some

612
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:47,280
problems where I don't care about teams
spending money. And I say that again

613
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,480
again again on the podcast, because
I feel like people focus, you know,

614
00:40:51,559 --> 00:40:53,679
everything has looked at through the team
perspective. I want players to get

615
00:40:53,679 --> 00:40:57,400
paid as much as they can.
But you're in this situation where you've had

616
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,199
to decide You've already paid brandon Ingram, then you paid Steven Adams, took

617
00:41:00,199 --> 00:41:01,719
on Bletsos deal, now you have
to pay a Lonzo Ball all of a

618
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:06,400
sudden, zion is extension knowledgeable after
next year, you don't have time to

619
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,199
not be expensive. We're just going
to be this cheap, young team,

620
00:41:08,199 --> 00:41:13,559
and so you do have really tough
decisions to make moving forward. I'm right

621
00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:19,559
there with you. Let's go to
Oh, we need to talk about this

622
00:41:19,639 --> 00:41:22,159
question. I feel like Idris Mohammed
good, Damna, I hope I really

623
00:41:22,159 --> 00:41:27,360
didn't butcher that beyond reason? How
do you think zach Lavine and Nikolavukovich fit

624
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,400
together? I love that fit.
I think that it's a great mix of

625
00:41:30,639 --> 00:41:35,360
two three level scorers who operate from
different positions on the court and get their

626
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,000
offense in different ways, and that
you can very much build a contender around

627
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:43,000
those two. I mean, Chicago
doesn't have the pieces to build a contender

628
00:41:43,039 --> 00:41:45,679
around those two yet, but that
is a great start, and they're both

629
00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:51,440
young enough to reasonably be a part
of the finished product, assuming that they're

630
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:57,760
working towards that from the current core. Yeah, and he makes life so

631
00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:01,320
much easier on zach Lavine, who
hit it's just a ridiculous percentage on his

632
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:06,639
tough looks forty one point three percent
pull up threes this year, which he's

633
00:42:06,679 --> 00:42:10,199
taking five point one of those per
game, and now you know, he's

634
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:14,880
not the best at operating in traffic, but he's gotten better at reading,

635
00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:17,280
making reads or passes out of double
teams. I feel like this year and

636
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:21,840
now that you have Voudovitch spotting up
from beyond the arc almost always above the

637
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,519
break. By the way he's he's
I think he's I need to check this

638
00:42:23,519 --> 00:42:27,400
because I keep saying it, but
I think he's top five in above the

639
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,480
break. Three he's made this year. He hasn't had that type of a

640
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:35,199
one floor spacing assist really, and
not that he's necessarily throwing too, but

641
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:38,320
that opens room for him. And
when you're kind of looking at all the

642
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:44,599
assists that he's thrown this season,
he like didn't have the I guess you

643
00:42:44,599 --> 00:42:46,360
can count. Patrick Williams is a
big if you want to, but like

644
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,599
his three point assists and Larry Marketing. Maybe it's a bad example, but

645
00:42:50,599 --> 00:42:53,239
they weren't going to his centers.
Is my point is he's assisted on three

646
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:58,639
pointers for Larry market and for you
know, uh Kobe White, Patrick Williams

647
00:42:58,679 --> 00:43:01,280
and now you have just vooch met
weaponry that's going to be huge for their

648
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:06,119
offense. And he's also someone who
can this is Vouche now really act as

649
00:43:06,159 --> 00:43:07,599
the focal point if you want to
work him from the elbows, which is

650
00:43:07,599 --> 00:43:10,320
something that Wendel Carter Jr. I
don't know that he was ever really given

651
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,239
the opportunity to do that there,
but he just didn't develop into that type

652
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:16,239
of player. And even the floor
spacer, like this volume floor spacer,

653
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:21,880
you have that from Vouche, Now
that's monstrous. My question is what kind

654
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,320
of it looks like Daddy is Young
is back to the bench now They started

655
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:28,360
Lowry next to Booch in his first
game in Chicago. Is that how you

656
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,320
would continue rolling? Because that opens
up minutes havef Daddy he is Young more

657
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:35,679
at the five where he's been annihilating
opponents this year, But then you also

658
00:43:35,679 --> 00:43:38,840
have Daniel Tye now as well.
So do you like it if it means

659
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:42,400
you know, more minutes for Daddy
is Young at the four, like you

660
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,199
do want to see more Thad Rouge
minutes? Or do you think it's right

661
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:47,199
to bring him off the bench where
you know, theoretically functionally he should be

662
00:43:47,239 --> 00:43:52,000
able to play more minutes at the
five. I think either way it works

663
00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:55,840
as long as there's a defensive slant
with the pieces around Lavina and Boche,

664
00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:00,199
whether that's Dad coming off the bench
or in the starting lineup. I mean,

665
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:06,400
I think you can reasonably see lineups
with insert point guard here, Zach

666
00:44:06,519 --> 00:44:12,360
Lavine, Patrick Williams, Thaddeus Young
and Vouch and just really lean into that

667
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,639
that defensive forward mentality. But again, like I don't, I don't think

668
00:44:15,679 --> 00:44:20,800
that the pieces on this roster are
the ones we're going to see when and

669
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:24,519
if this is a hyper competitive Bulls
team. But to answer the first question,

670
00:44:24,559 --> 00:44:29,679
like, I think we have to
look at it from Vouch's perspective too,

671
00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:34,559
where like we're looking at how this
twosome works together and when was the

672
00:44:34,639 --> 00:44:37,719
last time he got to play with
a hyper talented guard like Zach Lavine who

673
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:42,599
is no longer a great score like
he is in that elite scorer tier.

674
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:47,239
And Vukovich has become a multi time
All Star and a dominant offensive force while

675
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:52,840
playing on a team notoriously notorious for
the poor guard play and the clock spacing

676
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:57,400
that results from that front court long
logjam they've had. He's not had an

677
00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,679
opportunity to show off what he can
do with someone like Lavine on the floor

678
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:04,480
next to him too. Yeah,
that's that's a great point if you think

679
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:07,719
about the guards that he's played with
in Orlando and just the spacing in general.

680
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:10,199
There the fact that he's shooting as
high equipped as he was from three.

681
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,599
Maybe that's the best guard he's played
with. Is it Dj Augustine?

682
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:20,719
Is it markil Foltz? Jamre Mel
said, Hey, they made that graphic

683
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:25,119
for Shelvin Matt Yeah, one year. So uh, this next question comes

684
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:30,000
from Matt Lyons. Who's the best
defender in the NBA according to the numbers

685
00:45:30,159 --> 00:45:35,440
I have? I don't think you
can decide defense just purely by by numbers,

686
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,960
would be my argument. But I
mean on NBA maps DPS it's Nicola

687
00:45:39,039 --> 00:45:42,440
Yoki. That's what I was gonna
say, is do you have some point

688
00:45:42,519 --> 00:45:46,199
saved? Nicole yo want to talk
about that again? Though Janics is two,

689
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:51,079
batist Tibel is three, Draymond is
four, and Rudy Gobert is five,

690
00:45:51,159 --> 00:45:54,599
so there is some validity to that. ESPNS. I'm just gonna it's

691
00:45:54,599 --> 00:45:59,440
a question. I'm just answering it. ESPN's defensive real plus minus top five

692
00:45:59,559 --> 00:46:04,079
Rudy go one, Capella to Paul
George three, Miles Turner four, Christian

693
00:46:04,119 --> 00:46:07,519
would five. And then the other
one I'll look at is defensive. I

694
00:46:07,559 --> 00:46:10,159
didn't bring up the luck adjusted RPM. Let me do that now though,

695
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:16,800
luck adjusted defensive real adjusted plus minus
the top five in that yaku Peartle number

696
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:21,599
one, Cam Johnson number two,
Tobias Harris number three, Jay Crowder number

697
00:46:21,599 --> 00:46:24,320
four, Camp pays More number five. I wouldn't pick a best defender based

698
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:27,920
off any of those, but just
answering the question, I don't think that

699
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,920
there's any one single number metric you
should ever turn to just as the answer

700
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:35,920
to a defensive question. But I
think that if you are looking at all

701
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:42,119
of them in conjunction and weighing the
flaws and upsides of each individual metric,

702
00:46:42,199 --> 00:46:45,960
that I think that you might land
on a case for Ben Simmons, especially

703
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:49,760
when you look into like what Christian
and RSWO has done with versatility indexes and

704
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:52,760
stuff like, not only is he
going to show up really high in all

705
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,679
of the impact metrics, but you're
also going to see that he's taking on

706
00:46:55,719 --> 00:47:01,880
the widest variety and toughest assignments.
If you're like crafting an article where you're

707
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:07,360
not doing any film study and just
basing it on every single defensive metric available

708
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:14,360
under the sun. I think you
would probably land on Ben Simmons, Yeah,

709
00:47:14,599 --> 00:47:16,360
Hammerer, yeah go. Bear's not
always going to come up in those

710
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:20,320
stats, but I think that I
think you're right there. We'll move on

711
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:22,639
to a couple of other ones before
we wrap up. This is This was

712
00:47:22,679 --> 00:47:25,280
asked before the call was made,
but it turned out to be topical.

713
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,960
Has Al Horford been a top twenty
NBA center this year? That comes from

714
00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:34,000
d He's not playing the rest of
the season. Oklahoma City tol him to

715
00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:36,320
take his ball and go home,
and that they promised to find a trade

716
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:42,079
for him next year. My snarky
answer is that a top twenty center in

717
00:47:42,079 --> 00:47:44,280
the NBA would be able to play
both ends of a back to back.

718
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:50,599
Okay, but they're very clearly not
playing him. I know, I know

719
00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,039
for a reason. He's been good. He's been good for Oklahoma City,

720
00:47:53,119 --> 00:47:58,480
like no doubt he's He looks rejuvenated
to the point that it would have been

721
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:01,320
feasible for him to be traded it
or agree to a buyout and join a

722
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:07,119
contender and actually make an impact.
I don't know. I struggle with the

723
00:48:07,159 --> 00:48:12,679
top twenty thing just because of the
availability and because he's getting an extended number

724
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:17,000
of touches and looks by virtue of
the lack of talent around him, I

725
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:21,280
would say he's been right there if
he hasn't been in it because he was

726
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:24,360
his as a reasonable question, yeah, I don't. I didn't. Your

727
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,440
answer was that I could not believe
your facial expression when the question is asked.

728
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:30,400
I know he's thirty four. I
know he was averaging under thirty minutes

729
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:35,079
per game. He was shooting fifty
one percent on two's, thirty six percent

730
00:48:35,159 --> 00:48:38,760
from three three point four'ss per game
fourty point two points. You know,

731
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,119
I'm sad that we don't get to
watch him the rest of the year.

732
00:48:42,239 --> 00:48:45,079
I wish that he would have been
moved now to a contender, because I

733
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:49,159
think that he can actually really help
one. This question is tied of is

734
00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:52,000
tied of tied to that. It's
kind of tied to that, But and

735
00:48:52,079 --> 00:48:58,760
I lost it. Oh Namboo asked
without Yo, Kitchen and bed, who,

736
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:01,559
what are the top five centers in
the league. So we're assuming Joel

737
00:49:01,559 --> 00:49:05,159
and beat and Nicole Yoker one and
two. I think that's fair. Ruby

738
00:49:05,159 --> 00:49:08,840
go Bat is clearly definitely up there. Well, he's up there, Karnthny

739
00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:15,079
downs. Okay, what do we
consider Davis? He spends most of his

740
00:49:15,119 --> 00:49:16,760
time at the four, but in
the playoffs he's gonna close at the five.

741
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,880
I still don't really think of him
as a center, all right,

742
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:22,519
so we'll remove him. Then Bam
has to be I was gonna say,

743
00:49:22,559 --> 00:49:31,000
Bam. Autobio is definitely in that
is that is a healthy use of Nurkisch

744
00:49:31,119 --> 00:49:35,119
in there. No, no,
no, you don't think so. I

745
00:49:35,159 --> 00:49:37,920
thought the Blazers should have maybe considered
moving him based off how he played,

746
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:45,280
but I understand he was ru Rujevich
is up there. I think think between

747
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:51,559
like Clint Capella and Jonas Valancinis.
Maybe, I don't know, do you

748
00:49:51,599 --> 00:49:53,360
wanna Jewis play enough? I haven't
even looked at how many minutes forget I

749
00:49:53,360 --> 00:50:00,719
think he does. So I would
DestinE the question I would have. I

750
00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:07,880
would have a town's bam, and
as the Locks and Goberts, I would

751
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:16,039
say Gobert, Gobert Bam second,
town's third. I think no, I

752
00:50:16,079 --> 00:50:19,800
would have Oh man, that's a
really tough one. I think Gobert has

753
00:50:19,880 --> 00:50:22,880
to be third this season. In
a nutshell, I probably would take Towns

754
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:24,639
over these, I think your order
is correct. If you're asking me which

755
00:50:24,679 --> 00:50:27,800
one I want moving forward, it's
still going to be Towns. I think

756
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:31,400
he's so good a name we didn't
mention. Who might I know he's been

757
00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:37,039
injured this year at points, but
Christian would could sneak his way in this

758
00:50:37,039 --> 00:50:44,440
conversation. Miles Turner is actually a
really good one. Jared Allen even Rashaun

759
00:50:44,519 --> 00:50:47,280
Holmes this year definitely up there could
be in there. You mentioned Joannis found

760
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:52,559
Chunis already. I'm gonna say for
my last two, I'm just for the

761
00:50:52,599 --> 00:50:55,159
hell of it to pick. I'm
going with I'll say Vooch he's in my

762
00:50:55,199 --> 00:51:00,920
top five after that, and then
I'm gonna go with am. I gonna

763
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:02,679
go with for Shawn Holmes right now, that might be the guy for me.

764
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:12,159
He's that top five seems so agreed. Just for Shaun Holmes. But

765
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:17,320
or Christian wood is up there first
that we didn't mention Al Horford that was

766
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:23,119
a top twenty. I'm still being
snarky. I don't I can't settle on

767
00:51:23,159 --> 00:51:29,199
a fifth. My top would be
Gobert Voch, bam Adeboio and Karl Anthony

768
00:51:29,239 --> 00:51:30,440
Towns I think there's a lot of
different ways that you could go with fifth

769
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:34,000
unless we're you know, when you're
doing these exercises on the spot, you

770
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:37,039
could always leave off somebody. But
I don't think that we we mentioned everyone

771
00:51:37,039 --> 00:51:42,440
that I think could be a contender
for that. Chris Buche maybe, well,

772
00:51:42,599 --> 00:51:44,480
I just assumed he was in a
tear of his own. Here's a

773
00:51:44,519 --> 00:51:47,119
quick one for you. But sad
that we didn't mention though, is DeAndre

774
00:51:47,199 --> 00:51:52,119
Aiden? Imagine if he had developed
to the point that he was in that

775
00:51:52,199 --> 00:51:58,280
conversation as good as his son's team
already is I had I had him as

776
00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:00,920
a top ten center I think entering
the season, and he's just been all

777
00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:04,159
over the place this year. I
was still believing him. But but yeah,

778
00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:08,800
he's been disappointing by the standards I
had set for him. He's already

779
00:52:13,119 --> 00:52:15,360
that's like an insult to the center
death and the lead in the front of

780
00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:19,960
it. Uh. We mentioned Clint
Capello though, right, he has to

781
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:23,360
be in that discussion. Yeah we
did. Okay, Uh, let's get

782
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:29,840
to this next question here. How
far apart are Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry

783
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:34,679
if you were to ranked them among
NBA players. Caleb Manser asks a lot

784
00:52:34,679 --> 00:52:38,440
of ranking questions today. I mean, I think Paul is still ahead,

785
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:42,599
and that's not an insult to Lowry. It's just a compliment to Chris Paul.

786
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:46,639
We're talking about Chris Paul is like
a top fifteen guy. We're talking

787
00:52:46,639 --> 00:52:52,000
about Kyle Lowry is what like a
top twenty five guy? Yeah, so

788
00:52:52,039 --> 00:52:55,039
I think, like, yeah,
the answer is, however much separation you

789
00:52:55,039 --> 00:53:00,000
think exists between those tears. Here's
a question that was for you, RJ.

790
00:53:00,159 --> 00:53:06,960
Barrett projections for next year. I'm
trying to decide where on the MVP

791
00:53:07,079 --> 00:53:10,320
ballot he should fall. This question
comes from rocket Ship Emoji. By the

792
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:15,239
way, nice that's a creative name. But is it aft paint emoji or

793
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:19,440
is it like a true emoji?
No, it's it's a true emoji,

794
00:53:19,559 --> 00:53:22,360
so it's not a hulks. I
was hoping he was listening to the show.

795
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,039
Oh, we have a if you
will, let's tackle this r J

796
00:53:27,239 --> 00:53:29,440
question. Patrick, your question is
going to be next. Shout out to

797
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:32,320
you for asking the first live question
of this episode. Rough Dabs it is,

798
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:36,039
Yeah, it is. But here's
let me give me, let me

799
00:53:36,039 --> 00:53:38,360
give you. RJ. Barretts numbers
this year seventeen point six points, six

800
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:43,280
point two rebounds, three point one
assists, forty seven point seven percent on

801
00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:47,119
two, thirty four point two percent
on threes. That is, the thirty

802
00:53:47,119 --> 00:53:51,800
four point two percent just seems so
low because he's been shooting basically forty five

803
00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:55,360
percent for most of the season since
since his first five games, he's at

804
00:53:55,400 --> 00:54:00,599
thirty eight percent from three for the
year forty one games. But you know

805
00:54:00,639 --> 00:54:02,840
what the most impressive number of all
is is the two turnovers per game.

806
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:08,199
Like he's taken on these extra responsibilities
without committing those turnovers, and I think

807
00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:12,280
that's a big deal. But to
answer the question, I think we're looking

808
00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:15,800
at like fairly similar per game numbers, maybe a slight jump and assist,

809
00:54:15,880 --> 00:54:21,079
just with fewer touches and better shooting
percentages, because ideally New York is going

810
00:54:21,119 --> 00:54:23,679
to continue to flesh out the number
of offensive options that it has around him.

811
00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:28,599
When you factor in an incoming rookie, a version of Obie Toppan who's

812
00:54:28,639 --> 00:54:34,239
probably featured more prominently in the rotation, Mitchell Robinson continuing to grow and hopefully

813
00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:37,920
actually staying healthy. I don't think
we're looking at our j Barrett as like

814
00:54:37,039 --> 00:54:40,280
a twenty to twenty five point per
game score. I think we're still seeing

815
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:45,159
those like sixteen to eighteen points,
just in more efficient fashion. Yeah,

816
00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:47,519
the things that I'll be watching is, one, can the three point clips

817
00:54:47,519 --> 00:54:52,039
sustain? And we know most of
those are just going to be off the

818
00:54:52,079 --> 00:54:53,920
catch? But can he do anything
was off the dribble jumper, his floater,

819
00:54:54,119 --> 00:54:58,039
his mid range game. He's getting
to the rim less than he did

820
00:54:58,079 --> 00:55:00,039
last season, but finishing better.
Can you your free throw attempt three?

821
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:02,920
I think there's that's going to be
the difference. The swing factor for him

822
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,480
is can he do something else than
he's doing now? That's huge because if

823
00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:09,079
you want him to be your north
star for the future, and I think

824
00:55:09,079 --> 00:55:13,760
he's more likely to be that than
Julius Randall just because he's younger. I

825
00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:16,239
will also say the improvements he has
made defensively away from the ball this season,

826
00:55:16,639 --> 00:55:19,599
I think it's sort of flown under
the radar. You don't see it

827
00:55:19,639 --> 00:55:22,559
when you look at his accounting stats. Steal percentage, block percentage down.

828
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:27,480
He's just better on that end of
the floor. So we're looking at We're

829
00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:30,360
still looking at someone with an all
star trajectory. Potentially. I think it's

830
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:31,199
fair to throw him in there.
What I expect that in year three?

831
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:35,800
No, I wouldn't rule out twenty
points per game, maybe yet to four

832
00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:38,400
assists around there, and we just
see it come more efficiency, more efficiently

833
00:55:38,440 --> 00:55:42,760
in totality. Yeah, no,
I'm right there with you. He's already

834
00:55:42,800 --> 00:55:45,400
one of the most improved players in
the league. This year. He might

835
00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:46,800
be I don't know how I feel
about sophomores winning it. I flip flop

836
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:50,079
every year, so no one should
listen to me. He might be three

837
00:55:50,159 --> 00:55:52,960
on my ballot. But Julius Randall's
up there. You've Shay, but he's

838
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:57,119
gonna miss a ton of time.
Jeremy Grant's there. You are aware.

839
00:55:57,159 --> 00:56:00,559
I'm never going to let you live
that one down right? That look good

840
00:56:00,559 --> 00:56:04,639
pick by you. I get lucky
every once in a while. Volume shooters

841
00:56:04,639 --> 00:56:08,360
are going to hit one eventually.
So Patrick asked two questions in the room.

842
00:56:08,440 --> 00:56:12,440
We already covered this one, But
how crazy a mine for thinking the

843
00:56:12,480 --> 00:56:15,679
Sun's healthy? Are solid picks for
making the finals? Since you weren't here

844
00:56:15,719 --> 00:56:17,079
at the beginning of the episode,
Patrick, I will say I had them

845
00:56:17,159 --> 00:56:22,000
ranked as the second best contender in
the Western conference behind a full strength Lakers,

846
00:56:22,320 --> 00:56:24,800
And if you told me that the
Lakers are going to be dealing with

847
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:28,400
these injuries the rest of the year
when Anthony Davis just doesn't look right even

848
00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,840
when he's playing in the postseason.
The Suns are next up for me,

849
00:56:31,599 --> 00:56:36,159
and I had them as a very
hesitant fourth, but we kind of established

850
00:56:36,159 --> 00:56:37,840
that we were looking at the Jazz, Suns, Clippers, Lakers, and

851
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:42,400
Nuggets. Is like a one ABCD
and E kind of thing, because there

852
00:56:42,599 --> 00:56:49,320
they all deserve to be considered in
that mix of legitimate finals contenders. He

853
00:56:49,400 --> 00:56:53,159
also asked how this is the same
question as what's next for Boston. They're

854
00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:58,880
not going to get any of the
prime buyout candidates we've seen that I think

855
00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:00,639
Evan Fournier and I met, and
this at the top two addresses a ton

856
00:57:00,679 --> 00:57:06,079
of needs for them, just a
better ball handling, another score, a

857
00:57:06,079 --> 00:57:08,840
good floor spacer, someone who can
generate his own shot. I don't anticipate

858
00:57:08,840 --> 00:57:13,000
he'll ever be part of the closing
unit when he's fully healthy, and I

859
00:57:13,039 --> 00:57:16,519
do think I love Robert Williams the
third. Everyone's talked about how wonderrated he

860
00:57:16,519 --> 00:57:21,880
could be as a passer, his
defensive mobility. I feel a lot less

861
00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:25,239
confident in their big band rotation now
that they have Moe Wagner and Luke Cornett.

862
00:57:25,239 --> 00:57:28,719
I don't even think they've you know, they haven't that I've seen released

863
00:57:28,719 --> 00:57:32,239
either of those guys, and then
Tristan Thompson Daniel Tice just feels like a

864
00:57:32,320 --> 00:57:37,559
really big loss for them. I
totally agree with you. I guess it's

865
00:57:37,559 --> 00:57:42,000
worth noting that everyone's like quick to
jump to Tristan Thompson's defense after it was

866
00:57:42,039 --> 00:57:45,360
reported that no one wanted him there, so that's good for team chemistry,

867
00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:47,960
I guess. But yeah, I
think I don't know that we're going to

868
00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:52,760
see any big buyout moves or additions
for them. I think this is very

869
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:57,920
much the roster they're going to attempt
to compete with, which troubles me a

870
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:02,760
little bit because if Kemba Walker isn't
Charlotte Hornet's version of Kemba Walker, that

871
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:07,440
is a big blow and I'm not
sure how consistently he can play at that

872
00:58:07,519 --> 00:58:12,320
level at this stage, So that, coupled with the shakiness of the Big

873
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:15,360
Men rotation, just makes me a
little bit worried about them in the playoffs.

874
00:58:15,360 --> 00:58:19,719
Even if We've seen Jaylen Brown and
Jason Tatum elevate their games, and

875
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:24,039
we know that Brad Stevens can give
them some sort of addition from the bench

876
00:58:24,159 --> 00:58:29,920
in a playoff series. If anyone
else in the room has any questions,

877
00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:31,079
please feel for you to throw them
in then we'll answer. We are wrapping

878
00:58:31,159 --> 00:58:34,400
up shortly, but we have a
couple of quick ones to get here.

879
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:37,960
I thought this question was interesting from
jarf. What is the true definition of

880
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:42,079
a wing? I always thought a
three four was a wing, but I

881
00:58:42,159 --> 00:58:45,760
keep hearing people referring to two guards
wings, so or two's also wings or

882
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:50,639
just guards? Think he encapsulated?
How positionless the NBA has become right where

883
00:58:50,679 --> 00:58:55,039
now even like wing designations are blurry. I think the way I think about

884
00:58:55,079 --> 00:59:00,159
it is who you guard. So
if you're guarding a primary ball handler,

885
00:59:00,599 --> 00:59:04,320
then I tend to think of you
as a guard. If you're guarding people

886
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:08,719
who often operate off the ball or
are lining up on the wings, and

887
00:59:08,840 --> 00:59:12,599
I think of you as a wing. And if you're typically guarding on the

888
00:59:12,639 --> 00:59:15,920
interior or those floor spacing big men
who run pick and pops or spot up

889
00:59:16,039 --> 00:59:20,079
in the corners or above the break, then you're a big, so I

890
00:59:20,119 --> 00:59:22,760
think you always hear coaches talk about
how your position is determined by who you

891
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:28,360
guard, and I think it extends
to those more overarching definitions. I do

892
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:32,119
look at way defensive matchups a lot
too, and where I think Aaron Gordon

893
00:59:32,559 --> 00:59:36,320
might be a good example of this. He might be better off he used

894
00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:38,000
as a big where it's just a
four or five role, but he's defended

895
00:59:38,039 --> 00:59:40,159
so many wings, and they've even
use him like a wing on offense,

896
00:59:40,239 --> 00:59:45,239
and so you don't need to look
at height designations specifically, David Nwaba is

897
00:59:45,280 --> 00:59:46,920
a wing. He's six four,
but you just look at the defensive assignments

898
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:51,760
he's described and if his offense isn't
going to be high usage enough to tilt

899
00:59:51,800 --> 00:59:54,599
in any one direction, that's what
I would look at when classifying players as

900
00:59:54,679 --> 00:59:58,159
wings or not. So you can
be you know, RJ. Barrett might

901
00:59:58,199 --> 01:00:00,760
be a good example. Is he
a wing or guard this year? I

902
01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:05,920
think looking at his defensive matchups,
he's probably more as a guard. Yeah,

903
01:00:06,119 --> 01:00:08,280
But I think it's important to note
that, like whenever you are attempting

904
01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:14,679
to sort players into a limited number
of buckets, be it the five traditional

905
01:00:14,719 --> 01:00:19,280
positions or those three mora overarching descriptions. You are going to have people who

906
01:00:19,320 --> 01:00:22,159
fit into multiple buckets. That's just
an inevitability. Like what would you call

907
01:00:22,239 --> 01:00:28,679
Lebron James? He says something a
thing. I'm a bob right? What

908
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:32,079
is Zion? Right? It just
like there there are some where it just

909
01:00:32,840 --> 01:00:40,000
defies that description. Fred asked,
are there any notable two way players tearing

910
01:00:40,039 --> 01:00:45,599
up the G League that should see
their NBA court time significantly increase for non

911
01:00:45,719 --> 01:00:49,320
playoff clubs. I would argue one
person who has not seen a Jordan Pool,

912
01:00:49,360 --> 01:00:51,960
We're probably going to see more of
him with Golden State. We've already

913
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:54,519
hinted that, they've already shown that. I think Jeremy Lynn needs to just

914
01:00:54,559 --> 01:01:00,800
be in the NBA at this point. Regent Tucker going to be another name.

915
01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:07,159
He has absolutely just dominated the the
G League this year. Didn't shoot

916
01:01:07,159 --> 01:01:08,599
too well on his threes, but
it looks like we're gonna see him get

917
01:01:08,639 --> 01:01:12,519
more minutes. Kevin Porton Junior not
on a two way I'm not even going

918
01:01:12,519 --> 01:01:15,280
through just two way guys here,
by the way, turned it up in

919
01:01:15,320 --> 01:01:20,239
the in the big leagues now.
Yeah, so, but he I didn't

920
01:01:20,239 --> 01:01:23,079
even realize he spent fifteen games in
the G League this year. Paul Reid,

921
01:01:23,280 --> 01:01:28,199
that's who everyone wants to hear from
from a fantastic I don't know that

922
01:01:28,199 --> 01:01:30,960
he's ever going to see minutes because
of the team that he's he's on and

923
01:01:30,000 --> 01:01:36,159
them chasing a playoff spot. But
Jared Harper has been a scoring revelation,

924
01:01:36,199 --> 01:01:37,800
which I think is you know,
a lot of people knew that that's what

925
01:01:37,920 --> 01:01:42,360
he could be. So those would
be some names that there's a guy who's

926
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:45,400
there's a guy who's averaging thirteen point
one points and three point five assists while

927
01:01:45,400 --> 01:01:50,000
shooting forty nine percent from the field, forty six point two percent from three,

928
01:01:50,079 --> 01:01:52,920
and eighty six point seven percent from
the line. Does that sound like

929
01:01:52,920 --> 01:01:55,599
an NBA guy to you? It
sounds like an NBA guy to me.

930
01:01:55,880 --> 01:02:00,239
Yeah, Gret Rillard, it's time
to give him a chance. I was

931
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:01,280
waiting for I thought it was I
didn't know who it was going to be.

932
01:02:01,360 --> 01:02:06,159
I should have known it was gonna
be Nate Walter or not. You

933
01:02:06,199 --> 01:02:13,440
should know this will be our last
one. Christian Vasile, Do the Rockets

934
01:02:13,480 --> 01:02:19,159
have some positive stats with which we
can build on. I will say,

935
01:02:19,239 --> 01:02:23,920
despite everything for the season, they
are thirteams in points allowed per possession.

936
01:02:24,159 --> 01:02:28,840
That's a really good place to be. DeShawn Tate does all kinds of things

937
01:02:28,920 --> 01:02:32,159
on that side of the floor.
I sort of when I'm looking at them,

938
01:02:32,199 --> 01:02:37,679
I'm trying to look at their roster
and see are there players here that

939
01:02:37,719 --> 01:02:39,800
can be a part of the next
iteration of the team that is good or

940
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:44,599
of their rebuild. And Deshawntate stands
out can do stuff with the ball in

941
01:02:44,599 --> 01:02:45,519
his hands too. You'd like to
see him hit more of his threes,

942
01:02:45,760 --> 01:02:50,000
obviously. Kevin Porter Jr. We
just mentioned him going to need to see

943
01:02:50,000 --> 01:02:53,000
more of him. Christian would is
We considered him to put him in our

944
01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:59,840
top five cent or at least.
I yeah, uh, And after that,

945
01:03:00,119 --> 01:03:02,400
I think that's where you're probably getting
kind of murky. I'm semi interested.

946
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:05,760
He's on a one year deal.
They don't have his bird rights,

947
01:03:06,079 --> 01:03:08,559
But Sterling Brown has been really good
this year. I thought maybe I was

948
01:03:08,519 --> 01:03:10,840
wondering refusing going to get bought out
to go to a contender, but he

949
01:03:10,880 --> 01:03:15,039
just might want to play twenty five
plus minutes per game on a fairly consistent

950
01:03:15,079 --> 01:03:19,840
basis. Those are the guys that
I'm watching most of this team that I

951
01:03:19,920 --> 01:03:22,440
leave anyone out at him. I
guess John Wall has a default to hear

952
01:03:22,519 --> 01:03:25,320
yeah, but he is old enough
that I don't really view him in that

953
01:03:25,400 --> 01:03:30,159
same light. I think the tricky
thing here is that those guys have looked

954
01:03:30,199 --> 01:03:34,360
really good, especially Kevin Porter Jr. In my opinion, like that G

955
01:03:34,559 --> 01:03:38,000
League stint really helped him. He
looks like he's playing with far more control

956
01:03:38,199 --> 01:03:42,920
and kind of dictating the tempo rather
than allowing it to come to him.

957
01:03:42,960 --> 01:03:46,079
But as is the case with everyone
else, like we have to be careful

958
01:03:46,159 --> 01:03:50,760
with this evaluation. It's sort of
like an offshoot of what we see at

959
01:03:50,800 --> 01:03:53,639
the end of seasons where you can
see those guys come out of nowhere because

960
01:03:53,639 --> 01:04:00,440
they're afforded opportunities and because teams are
operating with various motivations and you just don't

961
01:04:00,519 --> 01:04:01,880
know what you're going to get from
an effort level on a day to day

962
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:05,239
basis, which is one of our
concert which was one of our concerns about

963
01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:10,000
Christian Wood when he was coming off
of that stellar run at the end of

964
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:13,239
his time with the Detroit Pistons,
Like is this legitimate? And I think

965
01:04:13,280 --> 01:04:16,280
we're sort of seeing a similar situation
with Houston right now, because this roster

966
01:04:16,480 --> 01:04:21,119
is bad and there are a lot
of players getting minutes who shouldn't be getting

967
01:04:21,159 --> 01:04:26,280
minutes in a competitive NBA rotation,
So like, how much of it is

968
01:04:26,360 --> 01:04:30,360
it is a product of opportunity that
isn't going to be available going forward,

969
01:04:30,400 --> 01:04:36,079
and how much of it is legitimately
improved quality play With Jay Shawn Tate and

970
01:04:36,239 --> 01:04:40,519
with Kevin Porter Junior and with Christian
Wood. I think I leaned towards the

971
01:04:40,639 --> 01:04:46,039
legitimacy end of that debate. I'm
not quite sure on kJ Martin yet,

972
01:04:46,320 --> 01:04:53,079
but that has to be encouraging just
that Houston deservedly feels like it has at

973
01:04:53,159 --> 01:04:59,880
least a few legitimate pieces on the
current whatever you want to call this roster,

974
01:05:00,119 --> 01:05:03,639
it's low key, so mean or
maybe not so it's not really that

975
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:06,320
low key, Yeah, I mean? And look, Kenyan Martin Junior has

976
01:05:06,360 --> 01:05:10,559
been you know, his three ball
this season like an actual rotation and this

977
01:05:10,719 --> 01:05:13,440
helps, So maybe look to him
if you're looking for a one positive number

978
01:05:13,440 --> 01:05:17,079
to pinpoint this lineup actually makes sense
on paper, doesn't John Wall, Daniel

979
01:05:17,119 --> 01:05:20,599
House, Sterling Brown, Jay Shawntae
Christian Wood. Would you say that lineup

980
01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:25,679
makes sense on paper. They are
outscoring opponents by twenty two points per one

981
01:05:25,760 --> 01:05:29,840
hundred possessions, and they have one
on one point three defensive rating one twenty

982
01:05:29,880 --> 01:05:33,400
three point three offensive rating. No
question is like, over what like seven

983
01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:38,920
minutes, it's seventy three possessions,
so you might You're not like too far

984
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:42,000
off. So yeah, that's pretty
accurate. The other thing I will say,

985
01:05:42,039 --> 01:05:45,920
though, this is four hundred and
sixteen possession sample size. When Christian

986
01:05:45,960 --> 01:05:48,199
Wood plays without harden Oli Depot or
p J. Tucker, so players who

987
01:05:48,199 --> 01:05:51,360
are no longer with them. Obviously, the Rockets have a plus three point

988
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:56,400
one net rating on the season with
a terrible offense and a fantastic defense.

989
01:05:57,440 --> 01:06:00,800
I mean, I think Christian Wood
legitimately might that good. I guess.

990
01:06:01,039 --> 01:06:06,000
Okay, So my follow up question
to you is this time next year,

991
01:06:08,079 --> 01:06:13,360
ideally we've seen a healthy version of
Christian Wood for a prolonged period, He's

992
01:06:13,400 --> 01:06:16,920
going to be viewed as a top
X player, oh, in the entire

993
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:21,000
league. In the entire league,
I mean, is he is? If

994
01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:25,079
he's playing at this level, is
he an All Star next year? Twenty

995
01:06:25,079 --> 01:06:29,360
two points, ten rebounds, shooting
thirty eight percent from three sixty two point

996
01:06:29,360 --> 01:06:33,320
two percent on twos. I'm gonna
I'm going to go outside the top thirty

997
01:06:33,360 --> 01:06:38,280
here because I think he would then
make the Rockets like better than they'll actually

998
01:06:38,280 --> 01:06:40,719
will be. And I'm not sure
the ball is I don't know. He

999
01:06:40,760 --> 01:06:44,239
does so much stuff one on one
now, thirty was the number in my

1000
01:06:44,239 --> 01:06:47,559
head. Just seeing thirty to thirty
five feels right. Here's I'm gonna.

1001
01:06:47,639 --> 01:06:53,559
I'm gonna throw this back at you. He's on a shorter deal. He's

1002
01:06:53,840 --> 01:06:58,719
he's twenty five tours twenty six and
September this time around the trade deadline next

1003
01:06:58,760 --> 01:07:00,639
year, there's a year and a
half of Christian Wood left in a bargain.

1004
01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:03,199
If you're the Rockets, are you
looking this as we want to pay

1005
01:07:03,320 --> 01:07:09,039
him? Or is he going to
get moved because it's just the it's not

1006
01:07:09,079 --> 01:07:11,639
look. I think he's young enough
to be a part of the next team,

1007
01:07:11,920 --> 01:07:14,119
but they're so all over the place
that if they don't have the blue

1008
01:07:14,159 --> 01:07:16,800
chip cornerstone to pair with him,
I don't know what you do. So

1009
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:21,320
it's a twofold question, is one
is he that guy? Or are you

1010
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:26,000
more inclined to move him before his
nundtracked up. And at this moment,

1011
01:07:26,079 --> 01:07:29,400
let's say, over the off season
or before next year's trade deadline, what

1012
01:07:29,440 --> 01:07:32,000
type of value are you looking at
for Christian Wood on the trade market should

1013
01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:35,599
you? Well, I mean,
based on the current Rockets regimes, previous

1014
01:07:35,639 --> 01:07:39,840
moves, looking specifically at the totality
of what they ended up getting for James

1015
01:07:39,840 --> 01:07:43,280
Harden, I would assume for Christian
Wood they'd get like a twenty forty one,

1016
01:07:43,320 --> 01:07:47,840
heavily protected second round pick. Another
illegal thing, but that's a good,

1017
01:07:47,840 --> 01:07:50,039
spicy take. I like it.
You're in the right You're in the

1018
01:07:50,119 --> 01:07:53,920
right space. Look, they're not
going to move him, I don't think.

1019
01:07:53,960 --> 01:07:58,440
I think he's young enough, and
he they took a chance on him

1020
01:07:58,480 --> 01:08:00,719
already and it's paid off when he's
been healthy enough to be on the court.

1021
01:08:01,159 --> 01:08:05,239
And I think that there's there's going
to be loyalty for both ends on

1022
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:09,039
that. I keep him just because
you need good players on the team,

1023
01:08:09,039 --> 01:08:11,400
and he really if you can have
a top thirty to thirty five guy,

1024
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:14,199
just keep him on the team.
If you're going to trade him with a

1025
01:08:14,280 --> 01:08:16,359
year and a half left, you're
probably looking at a young player in two

1026
01:08:16,399 --> 01:08:20,479
first round picks. Oh Patrick said
in the chat top thirty five to forty

1027
01:08:20,479 --> 01:08:24,039
five, that's you know, I
think that range is totally reasonable. What

1028
01:08:24,159 --> 01:08:26,479
it's all right, here's let's go
the opposite way. Oh and first of

1029
01:08:26,479 --> 01:08:30,399
all, I think he gets you
more for the I think he gets you

1030
01:08:30,439 --> 01:08:33,079
more than Boots does on the trade
market, just because of the type of

1031
01:08:33,079 --> 01:08:35,960
players they are. He's a little
bit more not as good as a passer,

1032
01:08:36,960 --> 01:08:40,119
more dynamic though with the ball in
his hands. I think you can

1033
01:08:40,159 --> 01:08:44,800
say, do you see a path
for him to be an All Star next

1034
01:08:44,840 --> 01:08:46,960
year or top twenty five, top
twenty guy? Is that like a ceiling

1035
01:08:46,960 --> 01:08:51,000
he actually has? I think so, but it feels like it depends on

1036
01:08:51,279 --> 01:08:56,439
the pieces they put around him,
because if you are on one of the

1037
01:08:56,439 --> 01:09:00,119
worst teams in the Western Conference,
you have to put up some massive numbers

1038
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:03,520
to enter that conversation. And Houston
is going to be one of the worst

1039
01:09:03,560 --> 01:09:09,359
teams in the Western Conference next season
unless something ridiculous happens in the off season.

1040
01:09:09,720 --> 01:09:14,479
So I would say that there probably
isn't that realistic a half next year,

1041
01:09:14,520 --> 01:09:18,720
but I expect him to play at
an all star caliber level. Do

1042
01:09:18,760 --> 01:09:21,319
you have anything else to hit before
we mosey on out of here. I

1043
01:09:21,319 --> 01:09:24,720
think we got to a lot.
I'm proud of us. Thank you,

1044
01:09:25,000 --> 01:09:27,600
thank you all for listening, and
for everyone who straggled in and out.

1045
01:09:28,239 --> 01:09:31,359
This was our least successful locker room
that we've ever had. Our egos have

1046
01:09:31,399 --> 01:09:35,079
been damaged after having dozens of people
in here. The tracts Patrick for sticking

1047
01:09:35,079 --> 01:09:39,479
around for so long and asking some
good questions. Yes, we appreciate you

1048
01:09:39,560 --> 01:09:42,800
Patrick, and anyone else who said
again straggling out. Remember we do this

1049
01:09:42,840 --> 01:09:45,720
every week at four o'clock. Maybe
we'll build it as an actual ask me

1050
01:09:45,760 --> 01:09:48,319
anything. Maybe that was the turn
off. We thought if we isolated the

1051
01:09:48,319 --> 01:09:51,039
topic it'd be different. But well, we're gonna, you know, fuck

1052
01:09:51,079 --> 01:09:56,000
around with this and fiddle with it
as we see fit. Sundays are tough

1053
01:09:56,039 --> 01:09:59,079
in here, per Patrick, that
is something for us to consider, particularly

1054
01:09:59,119 --> 01:10:02,239
when you think about FOOTBA season.
You're just like downline. Until next time,

1055
01:10:02,239 --> 01:10:04,720
though, Please, please, pretty
please remember to rate, review,

1056
01:10:04,800 --> 01:10:09,600
subscribe, Hardwood Knox. Wherever you're
getting your podcasts, we have all the

1057
01:10:09,640 --> 01:10:12,960
follows that will be in our bio, on YouTube, on your podcast player.

1058
01:10:13,079 --> 01:10:15,920
Follow us. We're all over the
place, including Sports Math Network at

1059
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:21,279
Sports Underscore at the Underscore Sports Underscore
Math. But until next time, we

1060
01:10:21,399 --> 01:10:27,279
leave you with the shout out two
to one the only future All Star Apparently,

1061
01:10:27,319 --> 01:10:30,680
according to Adam Bromwell and Worth,
at least three first round picks post

1062
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:43,279
twenty forty Christian Wood, Sugar Ray
Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin

1063
01:10:43,319 --> 01:10:47,439
Hagler, and Thomas Hearns. Legends
whose four way rivalry define one of the

1064
01:10:47,479 --> 01:10:53,640
greatest errors in boxing history, relive
their decade of dominance in the new Showtime

1065
01:10:53,680 --> 01:10:58,319
Sports documentary The Kings, a four
parts series premiering Sunday, June sixth,

1066
01:10:58,479 --> 01:10:59,479
only on Showtime