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What is up, fellow thermonuclear A
efforts. I am M Valley. Let

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me at you with another loaded hardware
knockmail bag is our first one in a

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while. Have a bunch of questions
that built up in our discord, so

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we're gonna focus on those. But
now for the quick plug, join our

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discord. The link is in the
YouTube and the podcast descriptions. That's where

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mailbag priorities are going to be made. I always like to do one per

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week. I've not been able to
do that. Sometimes I like to put

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out two per week, and we
will go to Twitter, we'll even go

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to YouTube, but discord is still
the best way to come in. Chat

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with me, chat with everyone that's
in there, and get your questions in.

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I do prioritize those for mailbags.
Also, if this is your first

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time listening to the podcast, please
please, pretty please hit that subscribe button

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wherever you're getting your podcasts and on
you Tube as well. Both mediums helps

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us out a ton. Really trying
to build up the YouTube channel. We're

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closing in. We're only a couple
hundred away, less than two hundred actually,

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from two k subscribers. I'd love
to hit that mark, and many

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many, many, many more,
so please subscribe to us on YouTube and

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also the best way to really help
out the podcast, there was an article

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that was published to get us up
the ratings charts when you're looking at Apples

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specifically is to actually follow the podcast. So if you're listening to us on

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YouTube, head over to Apple Podcasts
or Spotify and follow the show anyway.

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Ratings and reviews are mega appreciated.
To follow us on all the socials.

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Those are also in the podcast and
YouTube descriptions. Quick schedule programming note for

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anyone who cares about this before we
really dive in and only take about thirty

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seconds, I'll be doing this mail
bag. We'll be closing out this week

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with two NBA team look aheads.
We're going to roll out that train.

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That's a fantastic series where I bring
on guests who cover follow route for every

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single team and we go forty five
minutes to an hour plus normally on their

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prospects for the upcoming season, really
dig deep. I'm very proud of how

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that series turns out every year.
We're gonna be rolling it out again fast

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and furiously. It's already up and
running. We have sixers up as of

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this recording and I will have I
guess I could spoil it. Thunder and

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Rockets are going to round out this
week. I am, however, traveling,

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during which time I have a project
that's coming out where I get into

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I had. It's something I've done
for Bleacher Report, and I've been approved

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by Bleacher Reports to release an audio
and video version of it where I talk

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about it and read back the biggest
what if moments for every franchise. I

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pulled experts again, people who cover
follow every single team about their biggest what

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if for the franchise. They gave
me responses, So that is going to

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be released while I'm traveling. Then
when I come back, I will get

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back on the team look Ahead,
Grind, and those will be just spit

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out, spit out, spit out, spit out. So if you don't

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see them up for like, you
know, two weeks, This is my

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usual September attempt to abscond and hope
that there's nothing that breaks that mandates I

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immediately work, but it could.
I'll be bringing my podcast equipment, my

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laptops, my cameras, my lighting, and we'll hope that the you know,

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the house that I'm staying in will
have that the internet connection holds up.

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That took longer than thirty seconds,
But I just wanted to give people

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heads up that I'm starting the team
look aheads now to sort of get out

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in front of it. But I
thought it was best to not try and

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get too many in the bank and
then hope to release them mom away,

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since the sixers one was already a
little bit dated by the signing of Mantras

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Harrel And so we'll do sort of
those the evergreen what if content and that'll

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be fun to see. You guys
should respond when we get to your team

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what your biggest what if is for
them. But we can now dive into

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this mailback had a ton of great
questions, and we will begin with the

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one from where does it actually?
I have so many that are in here,

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but I think let's start with Fool
asked with Chet out for the season.

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If the Thunder somehow tank well enough
to get their pick again, who

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would win the Rookie of the ear
race between Chet and Wemby. I don't

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know. I mean, I'd probably
pick Victor women Yanna. He's just like

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this, like seven footer with an
eight to nine foot wingspa end that plays

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like a guard or a wing.
If they're on the same team, that

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would just be absolutely mine. Mounting
Chet does when he's gonna be healthy just

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such a bummer. We haven't gotten
in a lot to that on the podcast.

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I will get into it more when
we do the Thunder Look Ahead,

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which is coming out very shortly.
It just sucks. I was really looking

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forward to seeing him play with che
glibs Axander, the way his spacing was

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going to open up things for Shay
and Josh Giddy. But he should be

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if he's you know, I'm not
too concerned long term about this foot injury.

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Again, it wasn't him just being
pummeled by someone because he's too skinny.

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It was non contact, which is
always sort of a red flag.

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If this leads to permanent foot issues, then yeah, that's going to be

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certainly concerning. But I'm hopeful that
he's able to come back, and if

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he's healthy next year, I absolutely
would put him in. Even if Scoot

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Henderson and Weban Yama or one of
those two are on the Thunder or another

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team, I would still have Chet
right there because he could be potentially transcendent

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in his versatility at both ends.
I would love to see him in Weben

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Yama together, I having Shay on
that team with them, and some people

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still really like Josh Giddy, but
lu Dortz would also be there. That

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man this is I wouldn't call this
a blessing in disguise for the Thunder.

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I do think this is going to
be sort of not the final season of

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their rebuild, but they were still
going to look at this as a transition

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year regardless another transition year, or
shouldn't say transition because they're in the middle

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of the rebuild, but they were
always going to look at this as a

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rebuilding year for them. It probably
gets to the point we're don't have to

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worry about them shutting down as many
people now, and maybe they don't even

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do that. They could be bad
enough. I still think that the defensive

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company we've seen under Mark agnolds up
there. If you want to ensure that

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you're one of the bottom three teams
in the not just the West, but

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the League, you probably do need
to get to a point where you know

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ken Rich Williams and lu dort and
Chequila Slexander aren't playing. I don't know

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what they're gonna do with that.
I don't want to see it happened.

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I won't campaign for it. I
don't call this a blessing in disguise,

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though I think the thunder they might
have been too good. If you wanted

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them to get Victor One, Women
Yam or Scoot Henderson with Chet, they

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still might have. Again, I
feel like this would be the last year

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they would do this, and I'm
not advocating for but this still feels like

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a year that they were going to
really decide, Hey, we're going to

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if we have to shut players down
towards the end of year, once we're

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out of the playoff picture. That's
before we start making really more aggressive goes

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of it during the regular season or
maybe tinkering with the roster to be more

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of a win now proposition. But
sucks for Chet. I cannot wait to

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watch him next season, and I
would not be opposed to seeing him go

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ahead to head with women Yama,
you know, on a separate team,

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but if they're on the same team, like if SGA is still there and

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it's him Chet women Yama, I
don't even like I'm my mind can't wrap

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my head around that core. This
one comes from Asriel Underscore. PC can

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Westbrook, Cary up and get traded
already, and best case scenarios for the

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Lakers to get off his deal.
So I don't buy into Russ and Patrick

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Beverley sharing a one point two five
eight four second hug as evidence that everything's

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hunky dory and that they want to
play together and that this is going to

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work out. Maybe it does.
I still can't shake the fact that Beverley

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might have cost like the Russ the
Russ kd Era Thunder a title when he

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dove into Russ Russ injurs his meniscus
and that started. You know, they

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weren't all related, but that was
the first of just injuries derailing all these

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Thunder playoff campaigns. I just find
it hard to believe that. Being said,

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if it happens like it time not
time heals everything, but enough time

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has passed where maybe Russ doesn't care. But like Beverly's talked shit about him

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in the semi recent past as well
as has Russ, So I would just

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be shocked if this ends well for
the Lakers. I do think they need

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to move Russ. It's not even
just he's a terrible fit, but it's

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just his salary number, you're better
off divesting into deepening your rotation. The

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trick is, though, can you
find a deal where it makes sense to

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give up bult your first round picks? And really the only one that's if

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you want to be honest, what
I give up two first round picks?

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Four? And these are some of
the scenarios to get heals in Turner.

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I would would I do it for
the jazz package where it's like if you're

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getting Bowyon and Conley, or is
it boyon Bydonovich and Molik Beasley or more

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like a boy bydonas Jordan Clarkson.
I'm probably not doing that at Miles Turner's

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young enough to where if you're going
to get him, that could be a

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very long term marriage for you.
I understand why LA would do either.

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I also get it doesn't mean that, let's say Miles Turner isn't worth a

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Laker's this in first round pick.
I think he is. It would just

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mean that the Lakers don't want to
go that direction, which is fine if

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that's what they're admitting to. But
them not making such a deal doesn't mean

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that Miles Turner isn't worth it.
But when we're getting into those scenarios.

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The only one that's really come up
where I think it's been a no brainer

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is if they got Kyrie and with
that sort of looming over the specter of

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everything, there might be asking themselves, well, do we need these picks

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to maybe facilitate a sign and trade
for Kyrie when he reached his free agency.

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Is it even feasible to do that
and work underneath the hardcap and actually

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feel the competitive roster or they maybe
even waiting for this to collapse in the

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middle of the season to where they're
gonna want those picks. The Nets are

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just so combustible in that regard.
So that's why I'm like not entirely convinced

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that they're going to move us,
because they want to keep other scenarios open.

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I also think if you can stick
it out until the middle of the

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season, it's going to be cheaper
to actually get off his deal. I

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don't want to just you know,
regurgitate. Though the same trade scenarios went

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through Indie, we know the one
with Utah. There's also the ki respector

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Looms. Even though it's off the
table right now, people have talked about

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the Knicks one. I've seen Knicks
fans, or listen to Red Knicks fans,

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Knicks writers, listen to Knicks podcasters
who think that New York would be

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able to get a first round pick
if they take on Russ and while sending

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out Julius Randall, I don't think
that's possible if the Knicks are including maybe

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some of the other picks that they
have where it's like, hey, we'll

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give you this Washington twenty twenty three
pick. It's probably not going to convey

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in two thousand and twenty three,
but let's just say this Washington pick.

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You either lust your twenty and twenty
seven pick, and we're building you know,

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Randall and Fournier, and then we're
taking back Russ. Like, maybe

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that's possible, because then the Lakers
are getting an imminent first round pick that

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they could trade. Then. I
don't like, I just don't feel this

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possible. I feel the Lakers when
you're looking to get out of the Russell

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Westbrook contract without giving up like any
draft equity at all. I would view

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the Knicks a viable trade partner.
You have. Fourier's a good basketball fit.

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Randall's not the cleanest basketball fit,
but I think he helps you in

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second units more than Russ could at
this point, and then if you've kept

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your draft equity, you can worry
about if you want cap space or you

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need to move those guys. I
mean, look, Julius Randall's contract,

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I don't I think it's probably one
of the worst in the NBA. But

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the Westbrook number is just so massive
that teams, even for a year,

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are going to just get twitchy about
it and be hesitant to take it on.

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And so if I'm the Knicks,
just by virtue of creating the extra

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cap space, and if you're gonna
buy out Russell Westbrook anyway, you give

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up less, say Fournier and Randall
for Russell Westbrook, you're getting rid of

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him. Now you're opening up minutes
for more of the kids. You're not

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getting a first round pick. But
you've gotten out of Julius Randall's contract and

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he has four years left on it
at one hundred and six million guaranteed.

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You've gotten out of the final two
years of Evan Fourier's deal. He's two

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years and thirty six point nine million
guaranteed, and then a nineteen million dollar

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team option, which I'd be shocked
if any team is picking that up in

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twenty four twenty five. So you've
now gotten out of those deals, no

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extradraft equity, but you have just
cleared the runway for players this season when

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looking at you know, certainly the
offensive pecking order for RJ. Barrett if

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Julius Randall isn't there, but also
just ensuring that without Randall there, you're

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you have a reason to play Obie
Topping. And then that's even by extension,

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like, yeah, there should be
more minutes available for Jericho Sims even

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with Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson in
the fold. So if you need to

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expand the deal and you want a
first round pick, maybe you're sending Cam

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Reddish out as part of that.
If I'm the Lakers and it's one first

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00:11:33,159 --> 00:11:37,840
round pick for Randall, Fournier and
Reddish in exchange for us, I'm honestly

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probably not doing that. I'm the
Lakers. But if you can get the

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Knicks to pull the trigger on that
deal without giving up a draft pick,

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and if I'm the Kicks, I
would do it. I'm just flat out

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I care more about opening up minutes
this season by getting rid of Russ and

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then they're gonna have more cat flexibility
moving forward or sooner, I should say

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as well, I would absolutely do
that. It would just be what's the

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Lakers appetite for taking on long term
money. The other one that I've kind

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of identified is I'm just surprised we
haven't heard more about it is the Spurs

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they have, Like as I'm recording
this, I have them at like just

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still over a truckload of cap space
and so like between thirty and thirty three

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million dollars just somewhere in between there. And so you could almost just do

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Josh Richardson and like, are they
giving up Zach Collins in that deal?

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Would they give you Romeo Langford maybe? Or are they actually high on him?

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But you could do Richardson plus another
salary for Russ, and it's gonna

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be a smaller salary because Doug mc
dermot is the highest paid player around the

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Spurs right now. Look, Josh
Richardson and Doug McK dermott saves the Lakers

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like twenty something million dollars. Those
two combined make about like a little under

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twenty six million. Russ is slated
to make forty seven point one, and

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so you're looking at over twenty million
in savings just off the top there,

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and we know LA does sort of
run itself like a like a like a

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small market team on uncertain instances.
How much you have to give up to

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actually make that pack work. I
don't know what a twenty twenty six swap

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get it done. Just because Doug
McDermott is kind of a No, it's

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not because the Spurs are taking on
so much money. But if they would

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do that for one pick, I'm
the Lakers, I might consider it.

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Doug McDermott has money on the books
for next season, it's thirteen point eight

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million, it's expiring. They could
probably just jettison him, and while including

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a second round pick would be my
guest, Josh Richerson actually helps them by

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actually giving them a three Indie wing. When you look at their roster right

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now, they do not have a
three indie wing. The closest they get

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is want Toscano Anderson or maybe even
Beverly himself. I just like, it's

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not Troy Brown Junior. Uh,
it's not. If you wanted to go

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Austin Reeves, I don't know if
he's like three enough. There is he

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wing enough there either, so you
would get a three Indie Wing, who

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had quietly a good season splitting time
between Boston and San Antonio last year.

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I would do that deal if I
were the Lakers as well. And if

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you're gonna then you know, hold
onto rust or see what other opportunities evolves

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the season goes on. Maybe Charlotte
becomes one if they're just looking to get

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off Gordon Hayward's deal, or maybe
even Terry Rosier's deal because they're sort of

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looking to start a new It's very
it's very unclear what's happening there. So

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those are some I think San Antonio
and the Knicks one I laid out specifically,

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or just some different ones that I
haven't heard a lot talked about.

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No name for god. Do you
know of any all in one metric that

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empirically indicates the value of young players? Well? The issue I find with

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lebron, EPN, darko PPM,
et cetera is that they these are based

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on product juction, and since young
ones usually have to carve out their spot

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in the rotation on good teams are
on bad teams with good minutes, their

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production sucks, making the aforementioned stats
usual to describe their production but useless for

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extrapolating their potential so flat out.
I've heard of, I guess, not

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actual names, but I have heard
that there are teams that either have or

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been looking to develop these metrics that
focus less on production without context really by

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the way, and are more about
projecting. And I have no doubt there

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are a proprietary one within organizations.
I don't know of names specifically, and

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even if I did, I wouldn't
you know, if I did know them,

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I wouldn't be able to release them
because I feel like that's the only

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way that I would be able to
know them. I will say, when

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you're sort of looking at I think
that there is a movement or not a

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movement, but its sentiment around the
league that they do need to do a

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better job where there is there a
focus I should say on having these context

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dependent projection based stats eventually out there, so maybe they will be public.

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I think something that's useful right now
is if you can get a subscription to

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be ball Index or backpicks dot com. I'm paying for both. They do

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have certain you know, I would
call them context dependent stats that are out

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there, and I'll use be ball
Index like being able to look at the

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00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,399
the lot the spacing of certain lineups, and then you can see how that

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translates to how a player is faring. You can look at the level of

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shot difficulty on all of their their
fuel goal attempts, so you could see,

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okay, well, doctor Mitchell's true
shooting percentage might have been lower than

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Seth Curries, but look at the
shots Curry was taking versus Donovan Mitchell when

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you're talking about off the dribble and
self creation and so I think those stats

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are very important and are the best
that we have. They're publicly available,

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they will be behind submodels, and
they're definitely not like all, they're not

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these catchall metrics, but those are
just inherently flawed. I think that they

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are very useful, including NBA maths
total points added when trying to gauge the

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value of a player, especially established
ones, and when they're all sort of

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agreeing on a player. I do
think that absolutely matters. But like they're

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just inherently flawed, and we can't
boil down the production to any player,

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whether we're talking about not even production
but the future of a player down to

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one metrics. I think that you
need to look at the ones that are

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out there that can be context dependent, like that's baked in or can you

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can you provide the context yourself where
it's okay, Donovan Mitchell true shooting percentage

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lower than Seth Curry, just as
an example last season, But I'm going

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back, I'm looking, Oh,
Donovan Mitchell took like I'm just I don't

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even know the number. Seventy percent
of his shots makes one on assistant,

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where Seth Curry, you know only
thirty percent of a shot makes went unassisted.

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I do think that can help,
but that doesn't Sorry, No Name

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for God. That doesn't answer your
question on young players specifically. But I

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do throw a lot of metrics out
the window anyway with young players. And

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so if you can find one that's, oh, he's shooting a very high

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percentage despite taking a bunch of like
having one of the highest shot difficulties among

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rookies or among you know, players
with fewer than three or fewer years of

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experience, I think that stuff can
still be telltale. No Name for God

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also asked which teams can make an
offer to the Nets for Ben Simmons and

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who could he benefit the most.
I low key of Boston, Atlanta and

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the Nuggets. So Boston, I
probably hate with Ben Simmons because they need

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like if they need anything, it's
just like the shot creator and maker,

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and Ben is not that he's a
great passer, which is in terms of

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00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,160
being a higher level shot creator.
And I don't know that they even have

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the spacing infrastructure to make that work, especially because who are you moving there

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for Ben Simmons, Even if it's
Derek White and Malcolm Brogden still hurt your

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00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,799
spacing, like getting rid of Malcolm
Brogden, and certainly if Jalon Brown is

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inclusive in there, I wouldn't mind
Atlanta Stowe, but the fit with the

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Jante Murray is pretty poor, even
if you like it with Trey Young,

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I wouldn't mind the Nuggets. Would
you give up Michael Porter junior for Ben

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00:18:14,599 --> 00:18:18,000
Simmons right now? That's really a
flex on just how much you trust your

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00:18:18,079 --> 00:18:22,160
mom Murray and Nicole Yokitch to adapt
playing him with Eric Aaron Gordon that could

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get a little clumpy Bruce Brown juniors
now on that team, but there'd be

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something to the Nuggets. I'd be
curious if, just like, would one

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of these rebuilding teams still want to
take a chance on him or I wouldn't

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mind seeing Ben Simmons and Charlotte At
this point, what do they have to

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00:18:37,279 --> 00:18:40,440
give up aside from using Gordon Hayward
Terry ros Year as a salary anchor?

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00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,039
Like do you like do you like
James book Knight, do you like Ky

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00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,000
Jones? Would they be willing to
move Mark Williams in that deal you can

305
00:18:48,039 --> 00:18:49,720
maybe get if you're the net specifically, like, oh, Kelly Ubridge Junior

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00:18:49,759 --> 00:18:53,039
and Kelly Bridge Junior and Gordon Hayward, does that do it for you as

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00:18:53,079 --> 00:18:56,279
a return? And then maybe are
even getting a pick out of that.

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00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:00,799
Charlotte's pretty encumbered with the picks they
can offer. Given how protected twenty twenty

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three first day Owe New York is, that just projects very far out,

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I think to the twenty twenty six
if I'm not mistaken, So that's like,

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00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,240
you know, Charlotte's pick, it's
not over the nixt anymore. So

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I think it ended up in Denver, So my apologies there. Like Charlotte,

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I wouldn't mind to see, Like
I said, I think you're onto

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00:19:18,799 --> 00:19:22,839
something with Denver. Nobody else really
springs to mind, like I wouldn't mind

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00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,720
seeing him on one of the rebuilding
squads. If it was a Houston maybe,

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00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,160
but they just like you have Jabari
Smith Junior there, you have Jalen

317
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,240
Green and Alparen Shane Gun. I
don't know where Ben Simon's fits into that.

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00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,359
Maybe wouldn't mind seeing him in San
Antonio, but I'm more interested in

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00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,160
seeing if they can get their offensive
identity through a Josh Primo and Devin Vassel

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00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,759
combination. And what's it like with
Malkai Brandam and Jeremy Sowin and do we

321
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,359
give Kelvin Johnson more creation. I
still would not mind Portland if you're just

322
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,720
looking for I don't know what they
would be able to send back to you

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00:19:52,759 --> 00:19:53,960
there. At this point, I'm
not giving up Jeremy Grant for him.

324
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,839
He's just an easier fit. But
like if the Nets were for some reason

325
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:03,240
when he's trade eligible interested in Nurkitch. You have Josh Hart there as well,

326
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,000
and there's Justice's Winslow, like you
could get to the salaries the Nets

327
00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:08,960
want Gary Payton the second. I
still wouldn't mind Portland. I'm not if

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00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:15,480
it's Anthony Simon's, Damian Lillard,
Jeremy Grant, that's a and Ben Simmons

329
00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:18,160
excuse you, Like, that's a
really interesting core. I'm not giving up

330
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,400
Shade and Sharpe for Ben Simmons' values
falling too low there. And I don't

331
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,519
think the Nets are gonna be looking
to move him at least until they see

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00:20:25,519 --> 00:20:27,680
whether he can play and remain healthy. And if he can and they want

333
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,400
to move him, I would very
much question what type of value they'd be

334
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,519
able to get back for him.
But so I'll say Denver, Portland,

335
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,960
and I would be like really interested, I think to see him in Charlotte.

336
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,279
Those are just my three. I
don't like Dallas is a no.

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00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:47,079
I don't see him in Detroit or
Golden State. If you really wanted to

338
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:48,759
throw him an indie, that seems
like maybe a gamble they could make,

339
00:20:48,759 --> 00:20:52,599
because are the Spurs interested in Miles
Turner and up the Nets like moving like

340
00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,160
on a Miles Turner and Buddy Heel. It's like that even enough, you're

341
00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,359
not gonna get Bennedic Mathrin for him
or Tyree's Alibert. And so yeah,

342
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,000
my three would be Charlotte, Portland, and I think Denver's just interesting.

343
00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:06,839
I wouldn't necessarily advocate for them trading
MPJ for Ben Simmons if that was just

344
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:08,759
the framework of a deal, but
that would be sort of a fun challenge

345
00:21:08,799 --> 00:21:12,200
trade. Both of them have back
issues, so perhaps very apropos. I

346
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,039
don't think you could also just like
woof, Ben Simmons was floating around in

347
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,079
Utah at this point, he doesn't
really have to give their rebuild a direction,

348
00:21:19,519 --> 00:21:22,839
or maybe even Washington him and Bradley
Beale is your back court. That

349
00:21:22,839 --> 00:21:25,799
could be kind of fun, So
I just add some other teams. I

350
00:21:25,799 --> 00:21:27,880
actually really like the Utah and Washington
idea. I don't think Ben Simmons ruins

351
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:32,880
your tank single handedly, so Utah
and could very much slow play his back

352
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,759
and have him play like every like
once a week or something like that this

353
00:21:36,799 --> 00:21:38,039
season. Again, it just comes
down that the Jazz aren't going to give

354
00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:41,599
up future assets to get him.
You'd be more likely to get that from

355
00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:45,240
a Washington or a Charlotte Denver.
With Michael Porter j you're having the challenge

356
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,920
trade. I don't even know if
Portland would give up a pick for him.

357
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,359
To be honest, would you trade
Anthony Simmons for Ben Simmons, Mike,

358
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:53,920
I just not without knowing Ben Simmons
is back like if that was the

359
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,519
straight up trade, it can't be. Money would need to exchange hands there,

360
00:21:57,519 --> 00:22:03,279
but food for odd I probably wouldn't, just because then you're really you're

361
00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:06,319
on aging up your team, but
it's you just got Anfrey Simons on that

362
00:22:06,319 --> 00:22:07,400
four year dealing. If the Nets
are willing to do that trade, it's

363
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,799
probably because Anthony Simons is balling out. We'll have to see. The Nets

364
00:22:11,839 --> 00:22:15,319
are just so combustible. I don't
know what's going to happen with them this

365
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,319
year. Real Seerr of twenty two
nineteen, I was having a discussion with

366
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,240
a friend about how the NBA can
better promote its international stars and would love

367
00:22:21,279 --> 00:22:23,119
to get your thoughts. The basic
line of thinking being the NBA seems to

368
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,559
want to move from the Lebron Steph
Durant era straight to guys like Tatum,

369
00:22:26,599 --> 00:22:30,000
Job Booker, ant Man's eye on, etc. And is praying those guys

370
00:22:30,039 --> 00:22:33,440
Poppets have embraced the international stars who
are already proven to be generational talents like

371
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,880
Jannie Yokichen Embiid, who've dominated MVP
voting the last few seasons and already and

372
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,400
in Jannat's case, already won a
championship Luca is the exception. Of course,

373
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,079
the NBA loves him. Seems like
the NBA almost begrudgingly promotes these guys

374
00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,680
because of the success they've had,
not because they truly want them to be

375
00:22:48,759 --> 00:22:51,480
the face of the league. I
could list a dozen examples, but this

376
00:22:51,559 --> 00:22:52,440
question is already long, so I'll
wrap it up. Do you agree the

377
00:22:52,519 --> 00:22:56,759
NBA can do better with his international
stars, and if so, any thoughts

378
00:22:56,799 --> 00:22:59,680
on how. I don't know what
the thoughts would be other than leaning into

379
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:00,960
it. And I think, look, we've just seen this might be a

380
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:07,400
good example. We've just got word
that Scoot Henderson and Victor women Yama are

381
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,599
gonna square off in a game I
think October fourth and sixth. It's just

382
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,880
an exhibition game. Can you just
expose NBA fans to these players when you

383
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,880
know that they're coming down the NBA
draft pipeline before they get there. Yeah,

384
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,119
there's a case like Janis where not
there was no way to know about

385
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:30,000
him, but like Luca was very
much he was still harold as his unknown

386
00:23:30,039 --> 00:23:32,319
prospect, but everyone knew he was
making the jump of the NBA. He

387
00:23:32,319 --> 00:23:36,480
was in the number one pick.
Conversation like, can you somehow expose fans

388
00:23:36,759 --> 00:23:38,960
to his games before he's getting there. The other thing that I think they

389
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,920
could do, and I know that
this is like happened in the past,

390
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:47,359
even if you're not going to play
games like in you know, We're the

391
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,240
Kookich isn't gonna play in Serbia.
They're not gonna have an NBA game in

392
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,480
Serbia. I mean, that'd be
fucking cool that maybe have more preseason games

393
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,720
there. I don't know how COVID
and traveling now changes that though, like

394
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,680
post like post pandemic world. We're
not even post pandemic but post quarantine,

395
00:24:02,079 --> 00:24:04,799
so that would be something they consider. But can you maybe run like exhibition

396
00:24:04,839 --> 00:24:08,359
games where it's yeah, teams will
have off afterwards, but you're catering to

397
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,720
the timeline that's in Serbia to draw
in those fans a little bit more.

398
00:24:11,759 --> 00:24:15,720
Maybe that's stupid. Can you have
like, if you know you have these

399
00:24:15,759 --> 00:24:18,839
transcendent stars from these countries, can
you have like and maybe some teams have

400
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:23,119
done this already, but can you
have like a Slovenian national night if if

401
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,319
you're the Mavericks, so Luca's They've
done a good job promoting Luca obviously,

402
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:32,960
so I think it starts maybe before
they get to the MBA though, where

403
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,519
and Joel Epide was different because he
was a Kansas and the hype train was

404
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,559
up on him, Like you weren't
over exposed to him. You were more

405
00:24:38,559 --> 00:24:44,279
exposed to Andrew Wiggins, which I
guess could still be considered an international prospect

406
00:24:44,599 --> 00:24:48,480
being from Canada if they're not going
to NBA colleges, and even like,

407
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:51,240
look if they're in the G League, if they go that route too,

408
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:53,359
I feel like we're not as exposed
as we need to be to those types

409
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:59,359
of prospects. But I think you
could definitely just like why can't we play

410
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,119
a if insofar as it's feasible,
Why can't we play preseason games in Serbia

411
00:25:03,279 --> 00:25:07,160
or something? Or like I said, have like these is there, Like

412
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:08,960
can we have an international week?
We have these rivalry weeks? Can we

413
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,359
have International Star week where there's like
homage being paid to these players where they

414
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,039
come from, looking at their backgrounds, talking about their countries so that people

415
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:22,240
aren't confusing like EuroBasket with FIBA basketball. That's happening. And I look among

416
00:25:22,319 --> 00:25:26,240
the casual NBA fans like like or
NBA fans in general, like I get

417
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,839
the confusion, but when you have
media outlets even mixing those up, that

418
00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:33,279
that's probably not great. So I
don't think honestly, I don't have a

419
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:37,799
good answer to this. I hope
at least that thought was semi coher and

420
00:25:37,839 --> 00:25:41,440
some of them work. We did
have no name for God responded to this

421
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,440
in discord. I've been operating under
better. Yeah, I think the NBA

422
00:25:45,519 --> 00:25:49,359
is a market and the product is
fun. Current fraction that dominates is domestic

423
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,920
or U US fraction, while Asia, Europe Africa slowly coming up. The

424
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:59,279
marketing strategy NBA takes is looking at
the max revenue and in the short term

425
00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:00,759
that seems to be US. But
the fact, as you pointed out,

426
00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:04,559
that international players are dominating will certainly
expand the national interests give NBA motivation to

427
00:26:04,599 --> 00:26:11,519
push new young international prospects like Victor
w Just my two cents worth, this

428
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,240
was a great question from real Syrope. I would just say, like some

429
00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:18,039
of the like revenue potential will just
be tied to well, can we give

430
00:26:18,079 --> 00:26:23,559
these stars the exposure? And I
would say, like Janice Is Jannis had

431
00:26:23,759 --> 00:26:27,240
more than adequate exposure before he won
his title. But even just having this

432
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,799
is a symptom of the rest of
NBA coverage, the fact that we're waiting

433
00:26:30,799 --> 00:26:33,079
for him to leave Milwaukee to end
up in a bigger market. You can

434
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:38,039
absolutely do a better job to support
players when they're on these these teams,

435
00:26:38,079 --> 00:26:42,240
Like can you on the smaller market, non glamorous mid market teams, which

436
00:26:42,279 --> 00:26:47,519
is to say, you can't dictate
what ESPN and what Bleacher Report is going

437
00:26:47,559 --> 00:26:49,960
to talk about. And I work
for Bleacher Report. That being said,

438
00:26:51,039 --> 00:26:55,880
like when we have a broadcast and
we're talking about Janice's free agency, but

439
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,400
it's actually like Celtics Lakers that's on
the Like that's a problem, Like or

440
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,240
if it's Bucks versus whoever, and
you're still talking about Janie's free agency.

441
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,880
Part of that coverags needs to change. I love transactions, but I also

442
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,079
love basketball, and I'd be open
to, you know, like being able

443
00:27:11,079 --> 00:27:14,680
to dive deeper into these players backgrounds
during the broadcast, like having these segments.

444
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,400
Can you do a better job of
having that just on NBA TV,

445
00:27:17,559 --> 00:27:22,920
which you have direct control over.
So I think it just certainly starts with

446
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,279
the best way to better promote them
is to promote them more and maybe at

447
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,160
different points. And like I said, maybe it could be like an International

448
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,559
Prospect or Star Week or both at
this point, like we're doing with Rivalry

449
00:27:33,559 --> 00:27:36,400
Week. I think do think a
bigger thing could be And I use this

450
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,160
as an example for Lucas specifically the
fact that so little was known about him

451
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,400
heading into the NBA draft. For
yeah, the analysts that cover the NBA

452
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,240
Draft, but just like his name
was just out there, but there just

453
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:51,200
wasn't enough information flowing about him in
my opinion, like you could also make

454
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,559
a better effort to do that.
And is there a way to showcase these

455
00:27:53,599 --> 00:28:00,759
games on MBA TV or just somehow
like through segments or something where you're tackling

456
00:28:00,759 --> 00:28:03,279
these not as es Piano just bleacher
ported on MBA TV or just on the

457
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,400
NBA dot com website, having more
articles on them when you're looking at ahead

458
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,799
and trying to project forward. That
would be my two cents there, or

459
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,599
hopefully it was at least a one
cent worth one cent on that. Those

460
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,359
are those are my thoughts. HP
Bergie asked what if Tim Connolly, the

461
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:22,119
team president for the Minnesota team,
was maybe the smartest move the off season

462
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,680
by purposely overpaying for Gobert so that
other teams couldn't get a KD deal done

463
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,759
and he stayed in the East.
I know that's not true, but honestly,

464
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:30,720
what if he felt like he had
to get the deal done before Katie

465
00:28:30,759 --> 00:28:34,400
was traded, that the trade didn't
end up at the price on Golbert basically

466
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,160
the opposite of what happened. Interesting
to think about. Look, I'm all

467
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,559
for the pettiness. I like to
think that Jannis held up his extension decision

468
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,880
just to let teams who really wanted
him go through their free agency process in

469
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,759
twenty twenty. I think it was
apologies if I have a year wrong,

470
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,119
only to them be like, oh
no, I'm staying Milwaukee, And there

471
00:28:52,119 --> 00:28:55,519
were teams that sort of planned around
him maybe hitting the free agency market.

472
00:28:56,079 --> 00:29:00,720
I will say, like whether it's
Danny Ainge or's Tim Connolly, asked Timberwolves,

473
00:29:00,759 --> 00:29:04,160
both them like they done fucked up
the superstar the trademarket value. I

474
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,839
know we've seen Look any games went
for a Ton in the final year of

475
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,039
his contract, and I think that
should have been more of a flash point

476
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,039
for all of us where there was
a there actually was a market of one

477
00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:18,519
team negotiating on that. Maybe one
would have come out of left field that

478
00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:22,440
Cleveland did with Donovan Mitchell, but
he still went for a king's ransom despite

479
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,440
you know, going into the last
year of his deal, because we knew

480
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,039
the Lakers were going to resign him. But like they could have also tried

481
00:29:29,039 --> 00:29:32,000
to play that for their advantage like
they did with Paul George and that ended

482
00:29:32,039 --> 00:29:33,400
up blowing up in their face.
Worked out quite well for the Clippers,

483
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:37,640
and even the thunder they were able
to trade Paul George and Kwai without ever

484
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,480
actually having Kawai. But you're looking
at the scale that these deals are now

485
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,640
taking place on where it's two teams
and the Timberwolves and the Cavaliers who go

486
00:29:45,799 --> 00:29:48,759
there. We didn't know that he
had a preference on any one team outside

487
00:29:48,799 --> 00:29:51,720
of Utah. We knew Mitchell wanted
to go to New York. Cleveland's coming

488
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,759
anyway, and just throwing the equivalent
of like growing control six of their draft

489
00:29:56,759 --> 00:30:00,519
picks when you're looking at Acbaji drafting
lottery this year and then three unprotected first

490
00:30:00,519 --> 00:30:04,440
plus two unprotected swaps to go after
Mitchell. Yes, the contract terms matter.

491
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,079
He has three guaranteed years left on
his deal before he can hit free

492
00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:11,079
agency, and he's also just young
enough to where you feel confident making mac

493
00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:15,480
gamble. But I do think the
superstar trade market has changed forever in part

494
00:30:15,559 --> 00:30:21,119
because you have these mid to small
market teams who are I don't want to

495
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,720
say barren of playoffs success, but
there's pressure for them to succeed independent of

496
00:30:23,759 --> 00:30:30,160
certain eras Cleveland without Lebron, Minnesota, you know, since KG not having

497
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,960
a ton of success and even like
you can argue had very minimal success with

498
00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:37,079
him and would also you have the
pressure on those two teams specifically, Well,

499
00:30:37,079 --> 00:30:40,559
we have these talented young cores.
We have karl anthy Towns under contract.

500
00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:44,079
We have Anthony Edwards, who's a
megastar in the making or about to

501
00:30:44,079 --> 00:30:45,759
just be one this season, could
be an NBA player already, Like,

502
00:30:45,759 --> 00:30:49,960
we just need to maximize this window
because stars are requesting out or getting disgruntled,

503
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,640
or we're seeing a point in Utah
where Donovan Mitchell is only one year

504
00:30:55,039 --> 00:30:59,200
into his actual MAX extension and getting
moved already. He did not ask for

505
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,440
this one. But we're seeing that
these m MEA windows are more fickle,

506
00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:06,279
they're tighter, and so I do
think there's an incentive for teams of from

507
00:31:06,279 --> 00:31:10,240
all like market types to just go
for it harder, and so that's going

508
00:31:10,279 --> 00:31:12,680
to drum up the cost of stars
that you are not drafting or signing in

509
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,240
free agency outright, obviously, I
think what that does flipping it on as

510
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,440
ted and this isn't necessarily related to
Kevin Durant, but you're a team like

511
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,559
the Knicks who built up all this
equity to trade for a star, all

512
00:31:22,559 --> 00:31:25,960
of a sudden, you're going to
be more hesitant to do that because you

513
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:30,759
can't, like within a couple of
years of each other, feasibly trade for

514
00:31:30,799 --> 00:31:33,400
two stars anymore. It feels like
I'm sure that will change at some point

515
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,559
or there will be exceptions. But
how the Knicks match the Calves offer.

516
00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:40,319
That's what's lost in all this is
people who think that two unprotected first and

517
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,559
RJ were by far and away better
than what the Calves were actually ended up

518
00:31:44,599 --> 00:31:48,720
giving Utah. That's arguable at best. I think rebuilding teams like the Jazz

519
00:31:48,839 --> 00:31:52,480
just prefer the unknown of draft picks
rather than even if you think RJ.

520
00:31:52,519 --> 00:31:55,960
Barretts extension is fine, and by
the way, it is like you just

521
00:31:56,039 --> 00:32:00,519
prefer the anonymity associated to these draft
picks. That mystery up side to what

522
00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:02,839
you can do not only after you
use them, but if you wanted to

523
00:32:02,839 --> 00:32:07,480
flip them. And there's also just
that tied to the unknownness of down the

524
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,519
line with these teams. If you're
sending Dovid Mitchell to Cleveland, or you're

525
00:32:09,559 --> 00:32:14,920
sending Rudy Gobert, who's in his
thirties to Minnesota, you're like, well,

526
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,400
they're just in future. Might not
be promising. Mitchell could leave Cleveland,

527
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:23,680
Rudy Gobert could regress extreme, like
in an extreme fashion. So I

528
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:27,559
do think in part because of Tim
Connolly, this was like this. I

529
00:32:27,599 --> 00:32:30,920
really do think it goes back a
lot to the KD trade up the ad

530
00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:36,680
trade, but like the trade market
for stars has ostensibly changed forever, and

531
00:32:36,759 --> 00:32:39,200
it might change the way then that
I don't really think any team was actually

532
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:44,200
thinking that they could trade for two
stars and that's how they're going to rebuild.

533
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:45,319
Most of them know that you need
to get that first one in there

534
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,880
via the draft. The Knicks have
yet to grasp that that's just that much

535
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,119
is clear, even though they held
under their youngsters. The result of what

536
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,720
happened for them now is fine.
It doesn't you know, the fact that

537
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:58,240
they were in it at all,
offered as much as they did, including

538
00:32:58,319 --> 00:33:01,519
RJ. Barrett, doesn't necessarily imply
that they get that. And that does

539
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,920
pertain to the KD Trade sweepstakes,
because that's why if you're the Nets,

540
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,680
you were asking for the moon.
But his case was even harder to grapple

541
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:13,519
with because he's older than Gobert.
Katie's going to his age thirty four season.

542
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,160
He's not been as healthy as Gobert
over the past three years, and

543
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,680
so what are you actually supposed to
get for him? Is it acceptable to

544
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,400
get as much for Gobert when it's
Kevin Durant who's a top ten, top

545
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,359
five player versus Rudy Gobert, who
at his best is he's an all NBA

546
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,640
player, but he's between top fifteen
and top twenty five at his peak.

547
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:37,079
So this is just like stuff that
I think is really going to change,

548
00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:39,000
and maybe it'll be sort of addressed
in the next CBA. But I also

549
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:44,160
don't know how you aside from creating
an avenue to there being a renaissance and

550
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,119
free agency, which maybe the cap
spike, even by virtue of smoothing,

551
00:33:47,319 --> 00:33:51,240
can help with that because the cap
is still gonna go up certain players,

552
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:52,680
it's not gonna be worth it for
them to extend. Think of Donovan Mitchell,

553
00:33:53,039 --> 00:33:57,559
He's all likely going to get to
free agency in twenty twenty five because

554
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,599
if he extends off this number,
it won't hit his max max salary.

555
00:34:00,799 --> 00:34:06,519
So yeah, this is it's fascinating. I think that the star trade market,

556
00:34:06,559 --> 00:34:09,719
though, has changed forever and HP
Bergie that's definitely at least in part

557
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,559
because of Tim Connelly and of course
Danny Ainge. I do hope that he

558
00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:20,199
did that negotiations unfold the way that
they did to sabotage the Kevin Trade sweepstakes.

559
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,880
I'm all for those conspiracy theories.
They also ask who would win a

560
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:27,239
one on one Kevin Durant or Isaiah
Thomas with a BB gun. It would

561
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,519
still be Kevin Durant. He could
just get the shot off over the top

562
00:34:30,599 --> 00:34:34,880
of everything, including BB pellets,
I would think. Fool asked, what

563
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,480
are the chance that Anthy Edwards can
make the lead needed to give the Wolves

564
00:34:37,519 --> 00:34:39,840
the perimeter threat and scoring punch needed
for a championship run. They seem to

565
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,280
be aiming for that with the Gobert
deal, and if that kind of leap

566
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,440
is out of the question this earlier. Are there other areas of improvement on

567
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,239
the roster where they can be legit
contender by the end of the season.

568
00:34:49,559 --> 00:34:52,360
Look, I don't think they need
Anthy Edwards to be an All NBA player

569
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:54,480
for them this year. For them
to be a title contender, or at

570
00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:59,320
least a title contender in the image
of the regular season, they could be

571
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:00,719
a top four, top three,
top two team in the West, even

572
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,400
if he's not an All NBA player. But when you watch Anthony Edwards,

573
00:35:04,679 --> 00:35:07,840
there's room for him to grow as
a passer, and he's already made some

574
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,679
really complicated passes. And I think
when you look at his off the dribble

575
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:16,280
shop making showed them even more flashes
of that after the All Star Break specifically

576
00:35:16,639 --> 00:35:21,119
could break them down. I was
looking at like specific dates actually earlier,

577
00:35:21,199 --> 00:35:23,320
but let's just use the post All
Star break. Is Cleaner shoots nearly thirty

578
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:29,679
five percent on his off the dribble
threes during that span. That is the

579
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,280
pathway. Do you need him to
be your lead playmaker? And I think

580
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,639
he's capable of that down the line. Do I think he would be better

581
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:38,119
than Jayson Tatum as a passer this
season. He might be able to get

582
00:35:38,159 --> 00:35:42,039
up to the Jayson Tatum level this
season, which perhaps that's enough if you're

583
00:35:42,079 --> 00:35:45,880
looking at other areas of improvement.
It's just what is sort of the you

584
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,920
know, if the defense I think
is going to be wind up being spectacular

585
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,719
unless we see Rudy Gobert just implode. But can you get enough three point

586
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,920
volume and shot making out of this
group that you have? And maybe you

587
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,639
have enough of it with Towns and
Jail and Noel, But like I don't

588
00:35:59,639 --> 00:36:04,760
know about dead eye accurate shooters outside
of those two, and a lot of

589
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,719
that could come down to, well, Anthony Edwards on set jumpers, is

590
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,639
D'Angel Russell gonna shoot better than he
did last year and pull up threes?

591
00:36:10,119 --> 00:36:14,119
How many minutes? And what type
of accuracy accuracy can you get out of

592
00:36:14,119 --> 00:36:16,320
Tony and Prince well Kyle and Anderson
go back to hitting his corner threees at

593
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,320
a high clip. I think he
dropped a little bit last year. What

594
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,159
about McDaniels. Can he up his
percentages and the volume with which he's taking

595
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,960
those threes? And so that would
be just looking at this roster. If

596
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:29,559
you were to say Anthy Edwards is
let's say lateral compared to last year.

597
00:36:29,599 --> 00:36:31,119
Maybe he makes takes more strides on
the defensive end, which I would probably

598
00:36:31,119 --> 00:36:35,960
bet on given the infrastructure that's around
him. Now let's just say he's buying

599
00:36:36,079 --> 00:36:38,480
large or close to you with the
same offensive player. I think your quickest

600
00:36:38,519 --> 00:36:44,760
path to playing above your expected level
if you don't have Anty Edwards making all

601
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:50,000
NBA leap would just be this roster
gets collective improvement on there. I don't

602
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,840
know call necessarily floor spacing, but
just there are other non elite shooters,

603
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:57,599
and like we have towns and I
think at this point you're gonna trust Jael

604
00:36:57,639 --> 00:37:00,320
and Noel there. Maybe you try. You know, if you're a dude,

605
00:37:00,519 --> 00:37:04,039
you trust Jordan McLaughlin. How much
is he actually gonna play? Do

606
00:37:04,079 --> 00:37:06,679
you trust is Austin Rivers? And
so far he's gonna be part of the

607
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,480
rocation. Do you trust him to
really knock down his shots? I'd probably

608
00:37:09,519 --> 00:37:14,320
bet Austin Rivers. Fine. McLaughlin
sub thirty two percent last year on threes,

609
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,119
and it wasn't on a high enough
volume. Did shoot thirty eight point

610
00:37:17,159 --> 00:37:20,800
two? Is a rookie thirty five
point nine? His sophomore seasons like it's

611
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,840
there, but never on absurdly high
volume. That would be just the their

612
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,639
quickest path to improvement. I think
you're probably most likely to get that.

613
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,599
I'm talking outside of Anthony Edwards would
be I look at D'Angelo Russell thirty four

614
00:37:30,639 --> 00:37:35,119
percent on threes eight attempts. That's
someone who can have a season, whether

615
00:37:35,159 --> 00:37:37,920
he's taking most of them off the
dribble, off the catch, where he's

616
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,199
shooting eight nine ten attempts per game, and he's right there with Karl Anthony

617
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,880
Towns and not maybe not shooting forty
one percent, but shooting thirty seven,

618
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,079
thirty eight, thirty nine percent.
And I do think, again, independent

619
00:37:46,119 --> 00:37:50,800
of Anthy Edwards, if he's mostly
the same player, only incrementally better rather

620
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:55,039
than monumentally better, I see like
that is their path to really being a

621
00:37:55,119 --> 00:37:59,599
threat in the West, just because
I have such a big belief in their

622
00:37:59,639 --> 00:38:02,320
defense and the structure that they have
there now with Gobert, with Jade McDaniels,

623
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:07,599
with Kyle Anderson, with with Anthony
Edwards as well. Next question comes

624
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:14,400
from jt Alexander. Bleacher Report wrote
a team of five overrated NBA players of

625
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:15,920
the past ten years, which has
listed some interesting response on Twitter. I'm

626
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:17,960
almost sorry to ask, Dan,
but who are your top Who are your

627
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:21,559
five overrated players of the last ten
years? So I'm just going to tease.

628
00:38:21,599 --> 00:38:23,119
I did a YouTube exclusive on this
that I published on Labor Day.

629
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:28,159
Go check that out. I will
say demardar Rosen made that list. I

630
00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:34,840
am vehemently against that decision with respect
to my employer. I think there's a

631
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:40,400
difference between overrated and a very good
player who needs specific circumstances under which to

632
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,679
be optimized, and demardar Rosen,
to me, I would argue it's probably

633
00:38:45,039 --> 00:38:49,519
more so underrated because did you ever
really expect him to get through Lebron James.

634
00:38:49,599 --> 00:38:52,239
He was never mentioned in the same
tier as Lebron to where he thought

635
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:53,960
that he was going to be able
to lead the Raptors with Kyle Lowry past

636
00:38:54,039 --> 00:39:00,119
those Those Cavs teams actually think he's
probably like the single most underrated passer of

637
00:39:00,199 --> 00:39:02,679
the last half decade. Maybe the
single most might be like a little bit

638
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,320
too too far, but he's certainly
up there. I would say my most

639
00:39:07,679 --> 00:39:10,679
I'm gonna only give you one because
I concluded some other ones. I'll give

640
00:39:10,679 --> 00:39:15,239
you two and in the last ten
years Rondo specifically, I just don't I

641
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:20,599
go back and I look and the
teams for Boston and some a lot of

642
00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:23,280
them date back pre ten years now, So maybe I am going too far

643
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:28,719
back, but I just I don't
know. I just feel like we sort

644
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,599
of all overhyped the way that he
would drib the air out of the ball

645
00:39:31,679 --> 00:39:35,119
just because yeah, he would move
with it, and like his passes were

646
00:39:35,119 --> 00:39:37,280
pretty and he did set up guys, but the Celtics were just like once

647
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:42,000
he lost top shelf talent around him, dealt with injuries, but just never

648
00:39:42,159 --> 00:39:45,800
elevated the play of noticeably inferior players, like never got them to that next

649
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,840
level, and like he was at
all these different stops. So I would

650
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,280
say Rondo is probably one of the
most overrated players for me. I also

651
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:58,000
think currently, and maybe I'm reading
too much into I got YouTube comments recently

652
00:39:58,079 --> 00:40:01,800
that said Mitchell Robinson multiple not one
person, Mister Robinson's a better defender than

653
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:06,679
Evan Mobley. And I just feel
like, having discussed with people wondering why,

654
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:08,039
well, if Robert Williams the third
can be what he is, why

655
00:40:08,079 --> 00:40:12,480
can't Mitchell Robinson be viewed as this
asset and then if he also seen him

656
00:40:12,519 --> 00:40:15,880
compared to Gobet, like Mitchell,
Robinson has never shown the passing that RW

657
00:40:16,079 --> 00:40:19,760
three has shown. I think it
is switching is like the defense in space.

658
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:22,079
Maybe not switching is just not as
dynamic as what we've seen from RW

659
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:27,880
three. He's clearly no Gobert.
He's one of the least dynamic offensive players.

660
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,400
He can't put the ball on the
floor. He can't make a pass

661
00:40:30,039 --> 00:40:34,480
out of the like out of the
post on the short role. This is

662
00:40:34,519 --> 00:40:37,639
not someone who's gonna have a bunch
of like head or updakes around the basket

663
00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:40,920
to adjust his shot, just like
and he got four years and sixty million

664
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:43,960
dollars. Good for him. It's
on the declining scale. You want to

665
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,119
bet on him staying healthy getting better. Fine, but he just feels overrated

666
00:40:46,159 --> 00:40:50,239
to me the rest of my players. I'm teasing our YouTube exclusive jt Alexander

667
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,039
go check out that list. Demos
quol RJ batter is not a bad score.

668
00:40:53,119 --> 00:40:58,880
So how are his extremely inefficient splits
explained? Are they related with general

669
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:00,960
dysfunction of the team, lack of
true point guard, general decrease in three

670
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:06,119
point percentages in the NBA or combination
of all the previous points or something else.

671
00:41:06,159 --> 00:41:08,320
In addition, maybe so two things
stand out to me. One is

672
00:41:09,039 --> 00:41:14,719
role in constancy for him, where
he has been very much asked to at

673
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:17,320
points to be a complementary score and
to dot the three point r And he's

674
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,960
shooting thirty seven plus percent on catch
and shoot threes for his career. That's

675
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,840
a fine number. But then last
season he's sort of tasked towards the end

676
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:28,039
with running the entire show, and
we saw a lot of flashes, some

677
00:41:28,119 --> 00:41:31,480
really nice passes from him, some
really nice sort of movement in cadence once

678
00:41:31,519 --> 00:41:34,679
he got into the lane, took
a bunch of shots at the rim,

679
00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,440
still struggled to finish as efficiently as
you should. But he's not having these

680
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,400
consistent opportunities to work on his game
at that level. Well, he get

681
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:45,199
that this season with Jalen Brunts in
there, all question it if Julius Randall

682
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,719
is still in the lineup. The
other thing is I think a player like

683
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:52,480
him who is to me never even
going to be the level of off the

684
00:41:52,559 --> 00:41:54,599
dribble jump shooter that Damar is from
the mid range, but he can bring

685
00:41:54,679 --> 00:41:58,559
his percentages up just like, yeah, I could see him like dribbling into

686
00:41:58,559 --> 00:42:00,400
pull ups. That's fine, but
never going to be sort of these you

687
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:05,199
know, quick fire three point shots
off the dribble or mid range jumpers off

688
00:42:05,199 --> 00:42:07,159
the dribble. You need this around
him with a bunch of spacing, and

689
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:10,199
like, yeah, I do believe
that RJ could like have a nifty floater

690
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:15,079
and you're gonna trust him like using
his right hand more on the perimeter.

691
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,159
There are things that I think he
will improve. But if someone who's not

692
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:22,559
super reliant on athleticism, it's even
just like you know, Jimmy Butler is

693
00:42:22,559 --> 00:42:27,159
someone who's been very effective with his
downhill pressure, not relying on his jumper,

694
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,639
but he just has a level of
explosion. I'd argue that RJ Barrett

695
00:42:30,679 --> 00:42:34,000
does not. The spacing around him
needs to be better. And that's not

696
00:42:34,039 --> 00:42:37,239
an indictment of RJ Barrett really,
that's just an indictment of if the Knicks

697
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,320
want him to be the guy,
you need to maximize the roster fit around

698
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,920
him. And I don't think I
would even say that this could be the

699
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,679
case for Jawn Brunson, is that
so much of what he does best happens

700
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,559
inside the arc and putting defenses on
tilt. I don't know if the Knicks

701
00:42:50,559 --> 00:42:52,440
are gonna have enough shooting around him, enough three point volume, or enough

702
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,079
three point efficiency, or just enough
players standing where they need to be.

703
00:42:57,119 --> 00:43:00,239
When you look at Tibbs's propensity for
wanting to play a traditional center, is

704
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:04,000
he gonna let Isaiah Hartenstein camp beyond
the arc or on the perimeter like the

705
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:07,960
Clippers would do a lot last year. I don't know, so that would

706
00:43:07,599 --> 00:43:10,639
that would be my concern. I'm
not trying to say it's not all on

707
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:15,400
r J. But I think he
is probably underrated on a national level while

708
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:20,480
being overrated amongst Knicks fans in general, and there's a happy medium. I

709
00:43:20,599 --> 00:43:22,960
think that that happy medium hasn't been
reached because the context of his role has

710
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:28,000
been so inconsistent, and then the
Knicks have not been built for us to

711
00:43:28,079 --> 00:43:31,800
even see what a higher volume,
high usage best version of RJ Barrett looks

712
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:35,920
like. We saw the higher volume, high uses version of him towards the

713
00:43:36,039 --> 00:43:37,880
end of last year, and Fred
Katz has been on this at the Athletic

714
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:44,079
did a bunch of fantastic pieces about
his performance post New year, but like

715
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,079
the roster still just didn't fit what
I think you need if you want RJ.

716
00:43:47,199 --> 00:43:51,000
Barrett to be your primary ball handler, and so that would be something

717
00:43:51,039 --> 00:43:55,559
to watch for moving forward. Adding
on with this is from unbiased Pistons fan,

718
00:43:57,760 --> 00:43:59,760
ending on with no name for God. There was one vote for the

719
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:02,760
oh I already did so. We
had questions about the ESPN NBA survey.

720
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:06,239
Did a podcast on that already.
That was its own podcast. Check it

721
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:10,800
out. It's also on YouTube as
well. Petsy cash Money, what do

722
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:15,079
you think Jay Crowder's trade value is
and what makes sense as a landing spot.

723
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:17,079
Suns fans are convinced Jordan Clarkson is
a feasible trade return, but I

724
00:44:17,119 --> 00:44:21,119
don't see how that makes any sense
for Utah since Jay is early thirties and

725
00:44:21,199 --> 00:44:23,960
more valuable to a contender, not
a rebuilding team. Chicago or Brooklyn have

726
00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:27,840
some needs in the front court.
I assume Phoenix is targeting more playmaking,

727
00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:31,480
shock creating in return. Kobe White, question mark LLL, Betsy cash Money.

728
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:36,480
I do not wish Kobe White upon
the Phoenix Suns as someone who has

729
00:44:36,519 --> 00:44:38,360
been bullish that the Suns are still
going to be really good. I also

730
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:44,280
so what's interesting about Jay I agree
everything with that. Betsy cash Money says,

731
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:46,199
I agree with everything there that the
Suns, if they're going to level

732
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:50,440
up, it's I don't even want
to say they need a third best offensive

733
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:52,519
player because that could be eighten,
but they need like a third best ball

734
00:44:52,559 --> 00:44:57,239
handler who's not mckail Bridges or if
you think Aidan's gonna get more outside in

735
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:01,679
work this year or Cameron Payne,
Jordan Clarkson would be that he doesn't.

736
00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:06,480
If you're going to go that route
where it's really all offense too, I

737
00:45:06,599 --> 00:45:09,440
need more rim pressure and free throw
frequency than I'm going to get from Jordan

738
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:14,679
Clarkson. I'd also like someone who
I'd be more comfortable playing with both Booker

739
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,760
and Chris Paul and quite frankly,
Jordan Clarkson defensively is not going to be

740
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:21,840
that for me. If you're losing
Jay Crowder at the four, it's Michael

741
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,239
Bridges an Eton that puts an awful
lot of pressure on the other four players

742
00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:29,239
on the court. Maybe it works, but you're like small ish in a

743
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:30,440
bet, like, yeah, Jordan
Clarkson is what is he six? I

744
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:34,840
don't even is he six five or
something? But like Devin Booker, in

745
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:38,320
that six five six six territory,
Jordan Clarkson six fours, and just like

746
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:42,440
Chris Paul, we know we he's
small, So I don't necessarily love that,

747
00:45:42,599 --> 00:45:45,039
And I would argue that I think
Jay Crowder is worth a first round

748
00:45:45,079 --> 00:45:49,039
pick to a contender, like I
think Miami would give up a first round

749
00:45:49,079 --> 00:45:52,119
pick for Jay Crowder right now.
And maybe that's in part because they would

750
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:53,880
need to get off Duncan Robinson as
part of that deal. If I were

751
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:58,599
the Jazz, just because I have
so many guards and not enough like wings

752
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,199
or forwards at this point, I
would do The money does work, straight

753
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:06,000
up, I believe because Jay Crowder
is making in the tens this season.

754
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,480
I'll double check that as I'm speaking
right now, but he's at ten point

755
00:46:08,599 --> 00:46:15,199
two million, and so you have
Jordan Clarkson at He's at thirteen point three

756
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:16,920
this year with the player option for
fourteen point three. So yes, that

757
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:21,079
that would work. I would probably
do it if I'm Utah, to be

758
00:46:21,159 --> 00:46:22,519
honest, if the Suns were gonna
include an asset, even a tiny one,

759
00:46:22,599 --> 00:46:27,880
all the better for me, So
like, yeah, hell yeah,

760
00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:29,800
I would do that. If I'm
Utah, I wouldn't do it if I

761
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:34,159
was Phoenix. Betty cash Money mentioned
other teams like yeah, Brooklyn care really

762
00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:37,199
use Jay Crowder. They did sign
Utah wants an Abby and that's where Mark

763
00:46:37,239 --> 00:46:40,320
Kith Morris went as well. I
believe I don't really know what they have

764
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:45,840
to give up, Like you want, you're not gonna get Cam Thomas from

765
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,719
them, and like you're not and
they have TJ. Warren there now too,

766
00:46:50,559 --> 00:46:52,480
they're not gonna get and they have
Roys O'Neil. So I don't know

767
00:46:52,559 --> 00:46:54,199
that they would give you and like
neither of those guys give you what you

768
00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:58,239
need. Like Seth Curry would be
interesting in Phoenix, but he's not enough

769
00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:00,280
of a ball hand or I think
to give the Sun what they need.

770
00:47:01,559 --> 00:47:05,960
Other teams that's bring to mind,
like Cleveland. I think Jay Crowd would

771
00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:07,199
be a good fit there, But
again what is Cleveland sending? Like do

772
00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:10,480
you want Caris Lavert on the Suns? There might be something you can work

773
00:47:10,559 --> 00:47:15,280
out there if they're willing to take
uh, you know, like do you

774
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:17,800
still like Tory Craig for instance in
Phoenix? Do you I don't know how

775
00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:21,679
to you Landry Shammitt's contract. I
don't think it's as bad as it's painted

776
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:25,000
out to be. It's two years
barely guaranteed. Over it's about two years,

777
00:47:25,039 --> 00:47:29,440
twenty one million dollars. And they
could use like someone who can get

778
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:34,000
up a high volume of threes.
But if it was Landry Shammont and Landry

779
00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:37,719
Shammont and Jay Crowder for Carros Lavert, are you considering that if you're Phoenix,

780
00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:39,719
like in theory, Lavert gives you
a lot of what you need is

781
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:42,679
a ball. Henry he's a little
bit bigger, so you could play it

782
00:47:42,719 --> 00:47:45,159
with Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
The problem there then becomes Chris Paul and

783
00:47:45,199 --> 00:47:49,239
Devin Booker are very much the one
ones that are talented at playing off the

784
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,079
ball, while Caros Lavert is not. And so that's what's so tough about

785
00:47:52,119 --> 00:47:57,519
Phoenix's situations. They're almost better built
to wait and see if just a bigger

786
00:47:57,599 --> 00:48:00,400
name becomes available, because then you
have, yeah, Jay Crowder won't be

787
00:48:00,519 --> 00:48:05,639
super valuable to these younger rebuilding teams, but like he can easily be routed

788
00:48:05,679 --> 00:48:08,639
to third and fourth facilitating parties who
I think would give you, you know,

789
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:12,079
not a great first round pick,
but would give you a first round

790
00:48:12,119 --> 00:48:15,000
pick if you're a contender, like
identifying the Heat as one that would be

791
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:19,599
a good call for them. I'm
trying to think of like another team that

792
00:48:19,679 --> 00:48:24,440
where I could really see it,
like like Boston's not gonna do it,

793
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:27,519
would would at Land I do it? Like, Yeah, their picks are

794
00:48:27,559 --> 00:48:31,119
all all over the place there,
Dallas doesn't really have one. Denver doesn't

795
00:48:31,159 --> 00:48:34,079
have a lot of pick equity.
So the teams that would give up first

796
00:48:34,119 --> 00:48:36,159
round picks, a lot of them
just don't have first round picks to give.

797
00:48:36,159 --> 00:48:38,760
And you're not gonna get like the
Lakers. You're not gonna get take

798
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:42,360
on the Lakers bad money, which
would be Russ Like, is there a

799
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,639
third and fourth team deal where that
comes up? But I could see for

800
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:49,400
sure a team like would Toronto even
consider it later in the season at the

801
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:52,159
deadline? That's maybe a decision they
make around then then excuse me, would

802
00:48:52,199 --> 00:48:57,840
Memphis consider it? That's a team
Miami as well. Milwaukee doesn't have like

803
00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:00,599
first round pick assets, but if
you wanted Marjehan bow Champ, like,

804
00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:04,199
is that something they could do?
Again, then you get into the issue

805
00:49:04,199 --> 00:49:07,599
of well, what is Phoenix getting
back in this? And so that is

806
00:49:07,679 --> 00:49:09,840
why the carous Lavert stuff is a
little interesting, and if you're getting off,

807
00:49:10,079 --> 00:49:14,400
I would say Cleveland would need to
take back well. And I mean,

808
00:49:14,519 --> 00:49:16,920
like part of what's difficult for them
is they have a ton of room.

809
00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:20,000
Oh they know, they do have
more room under the attacks than I

810
00:49:20,079 --> 00:49:23,840
think than I thought. So if
you wanted to go Lavert for Jay Crowder

811
00:49:24,039 --> 00:49:29,679
plus Salary X, I don't know, Like, do you think that's campaign?

812
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:31,880
Do the Sun's not want to pay
him a six million dollars? Or

813
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:36,679
is it more likely to be Tory
Craig or is it Landry Shammitt, Like

814
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:39,719
those are deals that could work.
It could be Darius Arts as well,

815
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:43,840
but I kind of think Phoenix needs
him and he's more valuable to Phoenix than

816
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:45,199
he would be for Cleveland. So
something like that. I don't know if

817
00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:49,599
it's perfect, but could keep an
eye on. And I wouldn't hate Lavert

818
00:49:49,639 --> 00:49:52,880
in Phoenix. Betsy cas Money asked
where do I think Watchers Harrell will end

819
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:54,559
up? He's in Philly, and
I'm so mad because it's after I at

820
00:49:54,639 --> 00:49:59,239
least the Sixers look ahead. The
Pickens were pretty slim on that. So

821
00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:01,679
let's talk about the Montres. How
to filling move very quickly. I guess

822
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:05,599
I like it for the regular season. I wanted to see more Paul Reid

823
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:07,880
with the Sixers, and now you're
giving Doc Rivers another former big of his

824
00:50:08,199 --> 00:50:10,760
from the Clippers, just like you
did with DeAndre Jordan. But he's probably

825
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:15,400
gonna play ahead of Paul Reid.
Now I get it. Joelbid's gonna miss

826
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:17,159
games. You need innings eaters for
the regular season, and if I trusted

827
00:50:17,239 --> 00:50:21,280
Doc Rivers to still balance the development
of even Charles Basset or Paul Reid,

828
00:50:21,559 --> 00:50:24,519
go ahead. But I also think
like Philly's better off running lineups with PJ.

829
00:50:24,599 --> 00:50:28,039
Tucker at the five when it beads
off the court and Paul read together

830
00:50:28,119 --> 00:50:30,880
like that at your front court.
I guess what makes Montreshwal appealing here is

831
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:35,920
if you're playing him in minutes with
PJ. Tucker or Tobias Harris is the

832
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:38,920
four. When he's the five,
it makes it easier to prioritize the spacing

833
00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:43,239
and get him really rampaging downhill.
It's a minimum signing. I don't think

834
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:45,960
it makes or breaks them. I
do. I lament the fact that it's

835
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:51,920
going to hurt the development of Paul
Reid. Matt Chan. The Hawks and

836
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:53,599
DeAndre Hunter do to discuss an extension, but haven't come to an agreement as

837
00:50:53,599 --> 00:50:55,800
of now. My question is,
if he has a similar year to last

838
00:50:55,880 --> 00:50:58,599
year, do you see any teams
that would go out and give him a

839
00:50:58,639 --> 00:51:00,760
big offer sheet next season? Hawktron
office has made it clear they are invested

840
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:02,800
in his development, but I could
see a world where the price is just

841
00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:07,920
too high if he can't show some
upward trajectory. Yeah. I mean,

842
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,440
look, I'm with you if he
has the season he did last year,

843
00:51:10,519 --> 00:51:15,199
where I think the kindest way to
put it is there was just it was

844
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:19,960
stagnant to regression on the office,
stagnancy to regression from him on the offensive

845
00:51:20,039 --> 00:51:22,159
end, and I was just like
not super impressed with him defensively. Defensively,

846
00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,800
but he's just still when you look
at his size and the way that

847
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:29,639
he used his space to his advantage, he's rock solid. There is this

848
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:35,039
someone like in Fury he's not worth
Let's use Ogana Nobi money here. Where

849
00:51:35,039 --> 00:51:37,480
he's O January he's at seventeen point
four million. I wouldn't give DeAndre Hunter

850
00:51:37,599 --> 00:51:40,599
that right now, even with the
cap going up like that could be money

851
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:44,199
that he gets. Would the Pistons
look at him? They're gonna have a

852
00:51:44,199 --> 00:51:46,840
ton of cap space next season.
The Cavs particularly of cap space is Justin

853
00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:50,639
Rohan pointed out to me when we
were talking post Doman Mitchell. I wouldn't

854
00:51:50,639 --> 00:51:52,079
if they really want to just keep
leaning young and they're gonna pay him as

855
00:51:52,119 --> 00:51:55,800
sort of a flyer wing. But
the Pistons would be interesting because they could

856
00:51:55,800 --> 00:52:00,360
still sort of use wings. There
would indeed be invested in his develop elopment.

857
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:02,639
They they're slated to have a ton
of cap space next season, Orlando

858
00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:07,440
still needs a three and d wings, So would they be comfortable And I'm

859
00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:09,639
not saying like there's Franz Wagner there. They have Jan Suggs and Pala Bank,

860
00:52:09,719 --> 00:52:15,519
Caro Chumokeke there too, Gary Harris. But like I think you're looking

861
00:52:15,519 --> 00:52:19,000
at teams, there are a lot
more teams with cap space, and even

862
00:52:19,119 --> 00:52:21,719
Utah, like if they're just gonna
have money and they veew hunters a nice

863
00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:24,199
developmental project, could we see them
sign him to an inflated like two year

864
00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:30,239
deal when we're talking specifically about you
know, Detroit or Utah as an example,

865
00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:31,679
So those would be two teams right
off the bat. I keep an

866
00:52:31,719 --> 00:52:37,320
eye on like if Charlotte like has
money, but that depends on what's happening

867
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:42,159
with Miles Bridges. Not Orlando for
me, No, okay, see,

868
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:45,119
maybe like if they just want to
throw some money around, but they'll run

869
00:52:45,159 --> 00:52:46,239
into roster spot issues. So I'm
just gonna say, keep an eye on

870
00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:51,039
Detroit and Utah things get weird with
DeAndre Hunter. I don't think the Spurs

871
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:52,679
would do it, but if things
get weird between DeAndre Hunter and the Hawks

872
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,400
this season and they don't agree to
an extension, I'd probably expect him to

873
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:59,400
see see him on the trade block
because if he's not playing well, if

874
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:01,639
you're not getting to them from him, the Hawks are going to be substantially

875
00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:06,599
weaker. We did talk about this
on the Cavs podcast, but very quickly

876
00:53:06,679 --> 00:53:08,400
fool, how much more important is
Isaaco Core's development to this Cavs team.

877
00:53:08,440 --> 00:53:10,679
Now? If he can become a
reliable playoffs starter, what's the ceiling of

878
00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:14,559
this team? The ceiling would be
championship, because I think that that's what

879
00:53:14,599 --> 00:53:16,920
they're ceiling is, if not next
season, the season after with Isaaco Core,

880
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:20,079
I think it's just very important that
you want to see him continue to

881
00:53:20,159 --> 00:53:23,480
hit corner three's improve his above the
break three point percentage as well off the

882
00:53:23,519 --> 00:53:25,760
catch. You don't even do anything
else now, and that might be a

883
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:29,239
problem. Like, yeah, he's
he's had some nice moments where he's moving

884
00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:31,320
away like without the ball towards the
basket. So if you can get more

885
00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:37,159
of that with Mitchell and and Darius
Garland, But like you need him or

886
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:38,840
Mobley, I will say, like
you need that third guy who's going to

887
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:43,199
hit three pointers reliably as part of
that starting five. Can it be o'cro

888
00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:45,599
because they don't necessarily need him defensively
as much anymore. Maybe you think that

889
00:53:45,639 --> 00:53:49,280
they do because he can defend at
the point of attack, so that's even

890
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:51,880
going to be important. Then if
you don't want to put Mitchell or Garland

891
00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:55,639
on certain of those assignments. But
I think offensively, and I talked about

892
00:53:55,639 --> 00:53:59,119
this with Justin Rowan as well.
It was just from the Chasetown Pod.

893
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:05,159
I need the ball in his hands
to really be maximized more. But like

894
00:54:06,119 --> 00:54:07,760
it's not gonna happen now, like
there's just no pathway to it. You

895
00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:10,480
want to see MOBILEI Mitchell Garland with
the ball in their hands more and so

896
00:54:10,639 --> 00:54:14,400
even in the second unit, like
you have Caros LeVert, Ricky will eventually

897
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,039
be healthy. You don't want to
see. Ask Core we get those reps,

898
00:54:16,079 --> 00:54:21,039
So can he become like dominant getting
out in transition? Let's say for

899
00:54:21,079 --> 00:54:24,159
those Kevin Love outlet passes, cutting
more towards the basket, just general off

900
00:54:24,199 --> 00:54:28,400
ball movement. Or I think what
would what will be a swing skill for

901
00:54:28,519 --> 00:54:31,239
him is just hitting that set three
pointer from the corner and also above the

902
00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:37,559
break at let's say overall a thirty
six thirty seven percent clip on reasonable volume.

903
00:54:37,599 --> 00:54:40,119
I'm talking five attempts a game that
would put the Calves just in a

904
00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:45,280
very enviable situation, more so than
they already are. Israel and score PC.

905
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:49,239
Now that Mitchell has been traded as
a Miles buddy Westbrook deal get done.

906
00:54:49,639 --> 00:54:52,320
We did answer version of this question
before. I will say if I

907
00:54:52,400 --> 00:54:58,800
had depict the team that's most likely
to get involved in a Westbrook trade right

908
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:00,519
now, it is in. I
just don't know that I have faith in

909
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:06,239
it getting done at all, for
reasons I outlined before. I'm good at

910
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:08,840
say I want to say no,
but I just I'm tired of saying no,

911
00:55:09,039 --> 00:55:12,480
and then having those moves go down. I will say that's probably the

912
00:55:12,559 --> 00:55:15,000
feels like would be the most likely
trade. I'm just gonna say no.

913
00:55:15,559 --> 00:55:19,440
Just something about the messaging Los Angeles
is putting out there, and now you're

914
00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:24,280
you're punting all of a sudden on
the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes. Muckle would love

915
00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:28,239
to hear your ranking of a top
five or ten backcourt on an upcoming pod.

916
00:55:28,639 --> 00:55:30,760
Oh wow, here's a good teaser. I recorded a podcast with Adam

917
00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:36,760
frommel where we ranked the backcourts of
every single team in the NBA. We

918
00:55:36,840 --> 00:55:40,599
separated into two six tiers that will
be dropping Monday or Tuesday of next week,

919
00:55:40,639 --> 00:55:44,039
So keep an eye out for that. Dark Wing Duck tell me,

920
00:55:44,079 --> 00:55:45,960
as a national media NT, why
should watch my favorite team this year minus

921
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:52,400
our top two from last year?
So he's Darkwing Duck is a Utah Jazz

922
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:55,760
fan. I will say they need
to clear up the pipeline having Jordan Clarkson

923
00:55:55,840 --> 00:56:00,599
there. I'm fine Beasley being there, but Jordan Carkson Mike Conley specifically,

924
00:56:00,239 --> 00:56:04,960
I'm very excited to see, like
what Jared Vanderbilt can do with some consistent

925
00:56:05,039 --> 00:56:07,400
playing time. There's just a lot
of wiggle to his game. I loved

926
00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:13,760
him in Oh my God, was
it summer League or like preseason exhibition of

927
00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:15,480
twenty twenty one. I can't remember
if he played in Summer League or not.

928
00:56:15,559 --> 00:56:20,159
My brains all scrambled, but I
remember clipping and watching moments of him.

929
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:22,639
There's a lot of just off the
dribble flare to his game, Like

930
00:56:22,679 --> 00:56:28,000
it's not super explosive, but he
can get defense sort of just keep them

931
00:56:28,079 --> 00:56:30,880
spinning and turn them around and hit
some like off the dribble jumpers get a

932
00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:34,320
little going down hill, and I
think teammates would benefit from the way defense

933
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:37,039
has collapsed. That's why I would
watch the Jazz. Also, I have

934
00:56:37,159 --> 00:56:40,880
heard spectacular things. Also watch Jared
Vanderbilt because he is caffeine and poddily form.

935
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:45,000
If he's still in Utah. Walker
Kessler, a lot of people have

936
00:56:45,599 --> 00:56:47,320
tons of faith in his defensive ability. I don't think he's gonna be quick

937
00:56:47,360 --> 00:56:51,039
enough to be like this dominant All
NBA defender, but when you sort of

938
00:56:51,079 --> 00:56:53,079
look at his length and his presence
around the basket, or the ability to

939
00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:57,679
swallow shots or disrupt them a little
bit away from the basket, because he

940
00:56:57,719 --> 00:57:00,320
knows how to use his size and
length. That would be another reason to

941
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:04,920
watch. The Jazz do not have
that poll star cornerstone prospect right now,

942
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:08,440
but there are still reasons to like. There are players that could be a

943
00:57:08,519 --> 00:57:13,119
part of their their next era of
good basketball. And I'd also say I've

944
00:57:13,159 --> 00:57:16,639
been given up fully on Nikill Alexander
Walker just yet. There is like someone

945
00:57:16,639 --> 00:57:20,599
who can pull back into jumpers like
that and get them off. It'd be

946
00:57:20,679 --> 00:57:22,800
nice see him do it more efficiently. Can he put it together as more

947
00:57:22,840 --> 00:57:25,920
of a consistent decision maker as a
passer when he gets going downhills, a

948
00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:29,519
finisher around the basket. I'd like
to see him get a bunch of reps

949
00:57:29,519 --> 00:57:31,360
too, So him and Jared Butler
both those would be my reasons to tune

950
00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:35,719
into Utah and it would be part
of why I do turn into Utah this

951
00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:43,119
season. Can you Romeo a rome
eight one eight zero. Can you talk

952
00:57:43,119 --> 00:57:45,360
about what Colin Sexton was valued solo
on the marketplace? Ultimately, I don't

953
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:47,679
feel like his injury concerns are that
worries something. In the twenty twenty one

954
00:57:47,679 --> 00:57:51,239
season, he ever was twenty four
points per game on forty eight thirty seven

955
00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:52,800
eighty two splits. There can have
been many player his age in history of

956
00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:55,639
the league to hit those shooting splits
on that volume. What am I missing

957
00:57:55,719 --> 00:57:59,840
here? Are the passing and the
defense really enough to drag one of the

958
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,159
young scores down to a sub twenty
million dollars contract. When I compare a

959
00:58:02,159 --> 00:58:06,039
stats to RJ. Barrett's to pick
another recent sudden contract, I feel like

960
00:58:06,039 --> 00:58:07,599
Barrett would have to be the best
defender in the history of basketball to justify

961
00:58:07,679 --> 00:58:12,800
the extra fifty million. Well,
so Barrett didn't get anti or fifty million,

962
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:16,320
he got an extra thirty five million. I've talked about contexts and a

963
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:21,119
lot. We did the whole pot
on that. I'm sure Raoul who's row

964
00:58:21,239 --> 00:58:22,719
eighty one eighty listened to that one, given how much he listens to this

965
00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:28,159
podcast. I will say that I
just think there's a stigma more so against

966
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:32,079
smaller guards who either are not a
plus passers or they're not hitting a ton

967
00:58:32,079 --> 00:58:36,519
off the dribble jumpers. I think
Colin Sexton can be, you know,

968
00:58:36,800 --> 00:58:40,039
a solid like a very good to
fringe star off guard when you're looking at

969
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:43,119
a starting lineup or just come off
the bench, and I think give you

970
00:58:43,320 --> 00:58:46,159
enough playmaking to where he can run
those units. You get him going downhill,

971
00:58:46,239 --> 00:58:50,000
he can make good passes off those
defenses collapse. I just don't think

972
00:58:50,039 --> 00:58:52,280
he's ever going to have the in
between game off the dribble or hit a

973
00:58:52,320 --> 00:58:55,639
ton off the dribble threes. His
three point volume is also suspect in general,

974
00:58:55,719 --> 00:58:59,679
even though he shoots it really well
off the catch. But it's like

975
00:58:59,719 --> 00:59:02,119
I said before, he's at twenty
four points per game score for the twenty

976
00:59:02,199 --> 00:59:06,039
one season, and like the efficiency
he had them on where he hit better

977
00:59:06,079 --> 00:59:08,079
than fifty percent of his two's and
thirty seven plus percent of his threes.

978
00:59:08,599 --> 00:59:12,880
There's only a couple of players in
NBA history have done that at his age.

979
00:59:13,039 --> 00:59:15,079
It's fewer than five. I can't
remember the names. Again, I

980
00:59:15,199 --> 00:59:16,280
spoke about it on a previous pod, so I don't want to go too

981
00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:19,880
deep into it. I think when
you look at RJ. Barrett, there's

982
00:59:19,920 --> 00:59:22,960
also just people who are going to
favor size RJ. Barrett six seven,

983
00:59:22,639 --> 00:59:27,400
and he profiles at worst as someone
who could be like his worst best case

984
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:30,920
outcome, let's say, is a
three ind wing because he's been rock solid

985
00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:32,400
defensively. I don't think he needs
to be the best defender in the history

986
00:59:32,440 --> 00:59:36,960
of basketball. I still don't think
you want him covering your toughest wing assignments,

987
00:59:37,000 --> 00:59:38,760
to be quite frank there, but
he's shooting thirty seven plus percent on

988
00:59:38,800 --> 00:59:45,559
catches shoot threes while defending at a
position wing spots that are just more valuable

989
00:59:45,599 --> 00:59:47,760
than a lot of people consider guard
defense, which Sexon is also not good

990
00:59:47,840 --> 00:59:52,559
at. And so there's that push
and pull there. Do I think Context

991
00:59:52,599 --> 00:59:54,800
has been the better offensive player to
date? I would say Contex has also

992
00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:59,000
been the more valuable player projecting ahead, though I understand why you might be

993
00:59:59,079 --> 01:00:07,000
more intrigued buy an RJ. Barrett
as opposed to a Colin Sexton. Yeah,

994
01:00:07,119 --> 01:00:09,199
so like that. That's where I'm
at with with Sexton there. And

995
01:00:10,360 --> 01:00:13,760
that is it for this mailbag.
I answered a ton more questions. This

996
01:00:13,800 --> 01:00:15,000
spent longer I was on a deadline. I'm going to miss it now,

997
01:00:15,519 --> 01:00:19,000
but this was great. Please if
this is your first time checking us,

998
01:00:19,039 --> 01:00:22,239
out rate reviews, subscribe where you're
getting your podcast Hitten on YouTube, Blake

999
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:25,360
comment, help us break the algorithm, follow us on Spotify and Apple podcasts.

1000
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:29,480
Download every episode to help Hardward not
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1001
01:00:29,679 --> 01:00:35,000
us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok
all that fun stuff. Those the links

1002
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:37,920
of that are in the podcast and
YouTube descriptions. Until next time, and

1003
01:00:37,039 --> 01:00:40,199
as always, maybe the shout out
till one, the only, the indelible,

1004
01:00:40,360 --> 01:00:44,280
the legendary, the one who's actually
more valuable than RJ. Barrett and

1005
01:00:44,320 --> 01:00:46,679
Colin Sexton combined. Frank Nila Keina