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Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is
Adam from Will here with my co host Dan Favali, and today we're going
to be going over the complicated and weird and somehow still Phoenix Suns, including
playoff scenarios in the Western Conference. First, a shout out to NFL Sunday
Ticket, to Deal Dash, and to bet Online dot Ag, without whom
this podcast would not be possible. The bubble in the Western Conference has been
so weird, it's it's I don't think any of us expected the Suns to
still be in contention with the New Orleans Pelicans eliminated from the playoff conversation,
but that's where we are. And I assume you've had as much fun as
I have watching this unfold. N Yeah, it's been absolute chaos, more
chaos than I would have expected. You always would have banked on the Kings
being one of the first teams gone. That just makes total sense, and
you know their team, that's an interesting team to look at for the future
because did Aaron Fox had something very disturbing but maybe we could get to that
or what I found very disturbing afterwards, but maybe we can get to that
in a little bit. The Pelicans being eliminated definitely disappointing because I probably picked
them to get into the plane leading into all this, but they played some
pretty apathetic looking basketball throughout just these really bad openings, and then you saw
all these struggles from Lonzo Balls. Ian Williamson didn't play his best basketball,
had a pretty good game in that loss to the Spurs. Brandon Ingram kind
of disappeared after, you know, one great half against the Jazz. There
was a lot of weird stuff, even Drew Holiday, and when their season
was on the line, just some of their best players didn't seem like they
were at their very best, and that team has some questions to ask moving
forward. I the relitigations of their future on the timeline I found a little
bit confounding because they still seem to be in a great situation. But those
are two teams we could talk about after we get to the teams that are
still in the playoffs, because it's exciting. There are just so many different
scenarios, so many different balls in the air right now. Memphis has just
beaten up and I don't want to dump all over them, but they're the
team I want to see least now in the eight spot. You know,
whether they have to go through a plan or lose it completely, because just
without Jaren Jackson Junior, that injury just comes as a major bummer. I
want to see a team that might put up like some zemblance of a fight
against the Lakers. I don't think that's the Spurs or the Suns, but
the Spurs just getting in there would be kind of objectively hysterical after you know,
they lost the Marcus Alders. They were just written off. They were
in full developmental mode when they entered the bubble. And then just have the
Suns in there like that would be a whoa really out of nowhere, Like
this team is supposed to be incredibly incompetent, then people will finally understand actually
how good Devin Booker is. Portland seems like it'll be the best matchup,
but there are just so many different scenarios in the air right now. When
we're recording this base basically as Phoenix plays against as everyone's calling them the zombie
Thunder, since they're sitting everybody, I don't necessarily early everyone. Yeah,
they might as well, just forfeit is what it seems. I don't think
they're fielding a full team right, Like, they're just gonna play five on
four the whole game. That's basically what they're gonna do. And maybe they're
they're really trying to help Phoenix, you know, get into the playoffs,
or at least ensure that there's maximum chaos down down the stretch. So I
think the place to start would be which team do you think is going to
how do you think this ends? Is Memphis still gonna have the eight seed?
Are we're gonna have a play in with Memphis? I kind of don't
think so, which seems so weird to say, because they entered the bubble
like just scorching hot. It seemed like all the pieces were coalescing around John
Morant, Jaren Jackson Junior was playing better basketball, they were getting a lot
of bench contributions. Everything seemed to be working. But they've just been in
this absolute free fall. And even though they hold the eighth spot, they
only have two games left. They have the Boston Celtics on Tuesday and then
Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. Granted, neither of those teams really has much to
play for since we're sort of in this weird, like almost like NFL Week
seventeen territory where you have these varying degrees of motivation in play. But those
are both really good teams with depth, and even if they're resting Jannis,
even if they're resting Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, I'm not sure that Memphis
is gonna win either of those games. And if they drop both of them
all of a sudden, we're looking at a scenario where Portland, San Antonio,
and Phoenix are kind of all in play. I want to eliminate san
Antonio off the bat, which is probably going to come back to bite me
because it's the San Antonio Spurs and they're like legally required to be in the
playoffs each year. It's been twenty two straight seasons. As you said,
we all wrote them off after LaMarcus Aldrich underwent that shoulder surgery and was ruled
out for the rest of the season. But here they are because Derek White
has been absolutely fantastic, Because DeMar Derozen is still scoring in binges, because
Keldon Johnson is suddenly making contributions. Everything's kind of working as you might expect.
From a Greg Popovic coach team. But they do still have the Houston
Rockets on Tuesday and the Utah Jazz on Thursday, and I kind of think
that the Jazz are just desperate to right the ship and to figure something out
that's going to work for them as we move into the playoffs, which they're
already guaranteed to be a part of. I don't think San Antonio is going
to win both of those games. They're one game back of Memphis, they're
half a game back of Portland, and without two wins as hot as Phoenix
and Portland both are, I don't think that's going to be good enough.
I think what's tough for the Spurs too, is we don't know what's going
to happen with Derek White's left knee. He left that game against the Pelicans
with a left knee contusion. I'm I'm not entirely ready to write them off,
just because they've been getting contributions from all over, like you Banks just
coming in and giving them really big minutes, playing great the events in that
Pelicans game. I like that they've been more willing to go super small where
they're just gonna you know, they've had Rudy Gays center for pretty long stretches,
and they've just spread the floor basically around DeMar de Rosen, having four
shooters around him. That does displace Jehaney Murray, but the fact that they've
been so open minded to go that route has been encouraging. This is the
scenario, though, one of the scenarios for the Spurs to get in,
which is why I think I'd probably agree with you, particularly because you're looking
at their upcoming opponents as well. San Antonio needs Phoenix and Portland to lose
at least once while they win their final two games, which as you mentioned,
are against Houston and Utah, and failing that, the Spurs can also
make the plan if they win twice, Memphis loses twice and then one of
Phoenix or Portland loses once and this is per the athletic So there's a lot
of things that need to happen for them to get in there, but it
just it contributes to the cast because there's also still a path for them to
get the eight seed, which is how close everyone is. The thing I'll
push back though against is with Memphis, I actually think they're gonna end up.
I don't know if they make the playoffs, you know, maybe they
lose during a plan. But I don't think they're gonna lose both of those
games because you won. I think you might be overcrediting Boston's depth, Like
if they just decided to sit three guys in that game, they really drop
off after the top five or six, the top six players on there.
What do you have against Robert Williams exactly? That's it's Robert Williams has shown
flashes, but like, who are you using too? They've they've struggled when
Keba walkers off the floor to generate offense at all this year. They have
about a league average offense during those stretches. If you if you sit him
because you're just worried about his knee, and you said Tatum in the same
game, I just don't know who's going to generate your offense. Maybe they
don't do that. The Bucks, as you said, are super deep.
That would be a game that I would write in as a loss for Memphis,
But it seems like there's a possibility that they would be Boston. Should
the Celtics just sit everyone. It does seem like we're going to get a
lot of clarity on Tuesday, when all these games take place. But just
as a quick reminder, the way that the format works for these playoffs,
because I think we should explicitly lay that out, is that if the eighth
and the ninth seed in the Western Conference are within four games of each other,
which at this point is a guarantee, that's going to trigger a play
in sort of like pseudo series for the eighth and final seed. If the
eighth seed wins either of the games they're in, the ninth seed would have
to win both of them to eliminate the eighth seed and make the playoffs.
So that's kind of what we're talking about here, just figuring out who's going
to be an eighth and who's going to be a ninth, which is all
still up in the air. It does feel like at least one of those
spots is going to belong to the Portland Trailblazers. They feel like phatik really
they're going to be in the play in tournament at some point and look Gary
Trent Juniors shooting one trillion percent from three but absolutely amazing for them. Mellow
has played well offensively. As people pointed out, they've gone a great length
to hide him defensively. He spent time on Al Horford during the Sixers game
that they just won, and what really comes back to bite them is that
loss to the Clippers. I don't even think the Clippers had everyone available for
that game. They did not, well, they never have him anyone available,
so that just covered my ass there. I don't think they had Because
Patrick Beverley was was jawing at Damian Lillard from the sideline in his street clothes.
It was a very like I think I said this on Twitter, it
was very much like you know, when you see a defensive back. I'm
gonna keep making NFL analogies in this episode. Apparently it's like when a defensive
back in the NFL gets burned, the receiver drops the pass and the defensive
back celebrates, Like That's kind of what it felt like when Damian Lillard missed
those two freeze throws at the end of the game, which never happens,
and then missed the game winner, and Beverly's pointing to his wrist like,
oh, it's dame time, Like yeah, Like good job shutting him down,
Bev. Yeah, but they just the way that they're playing, and
Damian Lillard just Oh my god, talk about limitless range on his off the
dribble. Three. We knew he was going to respond like this, right,
that lets down at the end. The whole thing, too, is
that people were just dragging him, saying his legacy is built on two shots.
I saw afterwards that is just like so factually incorrect. Damy and Lillard
has been so good just on an individual scale, relative to any other superstar
in the league ever since that sweep at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Was that eighteen? Was that twenty seven team whatever? I think it
was twenty seven lost all track of time during twenty twenty. You could say
any year and I would believe you at this point. Wait, it's still
twenty twenty. That's unfortunate. It was nineteen seventy six. Yeah, he's
been ever since then then for the past you know, decade and a half,
whatever it's been. They mean LOWD has just been this entrenched top ten
player. To me, he is just so so good and the way he's
just able to uplift the Blazers. We even saw it this season. They
were a playoff caliber team when he was on the court this year, and
that means more than it would have most seasons because they were missing Nurkics,
they didn't have Collins, they didn't have Rodney Hood. They brought Mellow in
out of empty gyms, and even though Melo was pretty good for them offensively,
that's you know, they plucked the Melo out of an empty gym.
That's how desperate they were. They don't have Trevor Ariza right now, so
the fact that they're here is super impressive a testament to how he's playing.
But they're getting great contributions around him. They don't have to have as on
whiteside right now. But I think we're even starting to see use of Nurkics
move better on defense. He made some really just nice plays in space and
stuck with ball handlers in that in their last wins. So they see like
a team that's really coming together. And I'd probably vote them as the squad
that's most likely to give the Lakers a headache, because I wouldn't pick either
any of these teams to beat the Lakers. The Blazers final two games Tuesday
they played Dallas and then Thursday they play Brooklyn, and so the Nets are
already locked into playing the Raptors. Right now. But it doesn't matter if
the Nets sit everybody, because they like they're already playing their bedge. They
sat everyone, they wouldn't have any players left. Although Joe Harrison carous Lavert
have been bawling, Bert has been fantastic. Moved up into the top fifteen
of the NBA map Player Power rankings as of today. Actually that's how hot
he's been lately. Joe Harris, his free agency is going to be fascinating.
He's just absolutely incandescent when he's off the ball and then as a chance
to you know, just fire immediately. That's a game that you would give
them a win, even if the Net I would imagine that's that's the way
you give them. Dallas still has stuff to play for depending on how their
game against the Jazz shakes out. So they were again there are all these
moving parts up in the air, but the Blazers feel a faded complete.
I'm not saying they're going to get the EIGHTC but they will be one of
the two teams in the play in tournament. Sunday Sunday Sundays are coming back
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code blue Wire. I have such mixed feelings about this Blazers team because I
ultimately agree with everything that you said. I do not want to bet against
Damian Lillard in a big game scenario. I'm really impressed with the way the
Carmelo Anthony is playing on the offensive end. I'm even more impressed with the
level that Yusef Nurkics has regained and then elevated too since returning from that devastating
leg injury. Gary Trent Junior has been absolutely on fire throughout the bubble experience
and really even a little bit in in January and February, and I'm buying
into that breakout. I think that the shooting stroke in the overall game are
all legitimate there. But at the same time, like, I think we're
also slightly over hyping Portland based on the bubble results. Like, yeah,
they've they've been hot, they've won four, they've won three of their five
games since or four of their six games since returning, but they needed overtime
to beat Memphis. They barely beat the Rockets and the Nuggets and the seventy
six ers while those squads weren't operating at full strength, Like, they've definitely
been a beneficiary of some good fortune just in terms of who they've gotten to
play against and some of these results. I agree that they're going to be
one of the teams in the play and I probably think that they're going to
win both games and enter as the eighth seed. But I'm just I'm not
entirely sold on how much the hype train has taken off here. I think
I think that we I think we just need to curtail some of that all
around love that they're receiving and acknowledge that this isn't like some scorching team that
no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs. Like,
it's still like a pretty average team that is probably going to benefit from everything
and get into the playoffs. Wouldn't You wouldn't put them though and say they're
a leg up over the competition for the eight spot right now? I think
that's more so. How is the Yeah, I think they have a leg
up on the eighth spot. But like we're hearing like, oh, the
Nuggets might have tanked. I believe it was against the Clippers to get the
or against the Blazers, sorry to get Portland into that eighth seed, thinking
that they're going to give a tougher match up to the Lakers. That's the
part I'm not quite convinced about. I well, why, because I don't
know how you look at any of the other teams that could face the Lakers
and think that any of them would take a game off of LA or more
than a game. I don't. I think Portland has that higher variance or
a better range of outcomes because you have Damian Lillard, you have CJ.
McCollum. So if you get into these tight matchups, you know that you
have go to players in crunch time where see and that's that's what I'm going
to push back, though, I think Phoenix is better suited And I can't
believe I'm saying that as I have a month ago. That's like, that's
a terrible take. You're Devin literally to accept that. But like if we're
talking about the flammability of Damian Lillard, like Devin Booker has that, I'm
so impressed with how DeAndre Aden is playing. I believe in the defensive growth
that we're seeing from him, both on the perimeter and on the interior,
like it seems to have really clicked for him. Mickel Bridges has been phenomenal.
Ricky Rubio continues to impress. Cam Johnson is making everything like this is
this is a surprisingly dangerous team. And even if I don't think any of
these contenders would take even a game from the Lakers when the Lakers are motivated,
I kind of think that that Phoenix has the highest upside of any of
them. That's difficult for me to wrap my head around when you're talking about
most of these guys never being to the playoffs, like Devin Booker being in
the postseason for the first time, expecting him to play at at this level
when he gets there would be difficult for me to leave there. If you
would argue the defensively reason, I might buy that. In a normal season,
I might buy that. But because we're already operating in this weird bubble
environment and Phoenix keeps winning all of these must win games, there isn't going
to be like that hostile crowd that's breaking havoc in players' minds that the refs
are already whistling everything like, I'm not sure what's going to change too much
between what Phoenix is doing now in must win games and what they're going to
face in a postseason environment. That's a fair point. I still think you're
probably underrating just the lack of experience there for many of their their best players.
And you know, if you wanted to argue defensively, are they the
team that's best suited to go up against the Lakers? I probably wouldn't provide
much pushed back there. Portland's been terrible on defense, particularly in the bubble.
They're twentieth of twenty two teams in points allowed per possession. I will
say that their opponents are shooting forty six percent on wide open threes, which
is definitely not going to continue to happen, so there's probably been some bad
luck there for them. I just I'd rather go with the you know,
more season team and the one that's going to be led by the best player
of any of this group, which would be Damian Lillard. I would think
that they you know, no one's, no one's gonna beat the Lakers in
the first round. The Lakers offensive been a mess, but it just feels
like, if you want to give them a headache, I'd rather pit them
against a Damian Lillard led team than than a Devin Booker led team at this
point. And that's just not a shot at Devin Booker, who's been you
know, not just phenomenal in the bubble, but people are like just catching
onto his passing and that's been a thing for like a really long time,
I think even eight years now, yeah eight, and has been better defensively
this year for quite some time. So I think this is more people are
being exposed more to the Suns and why this is like some sort of an
awakening. I just still don't I wouldn't fully trust them to put up as
much of a fight against the Lakers. Maybe if Kelly Ubery Junior comes back,
perhaps that stands changes for me a little bit. Although I don't know
necessarily what he does for them. I think he's probably his defensive reputation exceeds
reality by a great deal. Even if he has a defensive reputation at this
point, I feel like he's always just getting burned off the ball, and
that's not just because there are memes to go to go with that. So
I would rather see if we're just looking for the longest series of the most
competitive series, I'd pretty firmly want the Blazers in. I totally get that,
understand it. I came into this episode not really knowing what my prediction
was going to be for how these four teams were going to play out.
But I think I've I think I've talked myself into Phoenix making the ninth seed
with Portland at eight, even though that does require Phoenix beating Oklahoma City today,
Philadelphia tomorrow, and Dallas on Thursday, with some other things happening like
Memphis losing out. But that said, though, I think that Phoenix might
be a marginally tougher matchup for the Lakers, albeit not one that's going to
extend the series beyond a gentleman's sweep at best. I don't think that they're
going to end up beating Portland in the play in tournament, just because that's
going to require like what a ten game winning streak, because they would have
to beat Portland twice, and I just I don't see that part happening.
I think they're going to expend so much energy just making it to the ninth
seed that beating Portland twice in that play and seeding game is going to be
impossible. The Phoenix is so tough for me imagine to get there. I
guess because I'm looking at their schedule and having to beat Okay, see,
Okay, they're probably doing that as we speak right now. I'm not looking
at the television with the scores. Philly doesn't have and Beat or Simmons for
that game. I would imagine it is a back to back, though probably
not, so that could still be tough even if they don't have a Simmons
and embat And then will Dallas still have something to play for on the Thursday.
I doubt it. I doubt it by the final game. There's just
so the scenarios are just so wild right now, and so I don't even
I don't want to write off Memphis completely either, just because I do think
they're going to go one in one, which then puts them in the driver's
seat. To be in that plan, they still have to be if they
if they retain the eight spot, they still have to be beaten twice,
which I think a lot of people are discounting. And I don't know,
would you trust let's say Memphis keeps the eight seed. Are you trusting any
of these teams to actually beat Memphis twice where you could just look at them
and say, you know what, They're going to beat the Grizzlies twice.
It's it's tricky just because we still don't really know what this Memphis team looks
like without Jaren Jackson Jr. And without without that knowledge, it's tough there.
We're also just now hearing that DeAndre Ayden missed his coronavirus test on Sunday,
was retested Monday morning, and can rejoin the team when the results return,
per Sham's Trania of the Athletic and Stadium, So he is not going
to be playing against Oklahoma City as we're recording this, Hopefully he's back and
able to play against an ambideless Sixers on Tuesday, but that would obviously alter
things dramatically if he has to miss both those games. Yeah, I was
reading that too. That's going that's a major let down the game against the
Thunder Given how many people they're sitting, you think they should still be okay
by Chris Paul's playing, though, so you never know, he might just
decide like, you know what, I don't want Phoenix in there just yet,
sorry, and put them very possible For Memphis though, Jaren Jackson Junior
was just so important to providing floor balance to many of their lineups when you
know they traded Drake Growder obviously, and then you never got Justice Winslow to
play because he was injured again. And they've been a blast. They've been
so desperate for shooting that Grayson Allen has played a ton of minutes and played
well, that's you know, you have to close games with Grayson Allen now
though, and so you remove Jaren Jackson Junior from that equation, the lineup
combinations just become so difficult to build, Like what is their actually best fitting
lineup right now? John Morant isn't it, and you know Grayson Allen,
isn't it. Do you play Clark and Valentini together for a ton of minutes?
That can be a little tough. They both shoot threes, but not
in high volume. They're not shooting them well in the bubble. Dylan Brooks
seems like a must included, but he might be the worst clutch player in
basketball this year. And that's actually an extension that I think is going to
end up aging a little bit poorly. I was. I was so surprised
people were high on it when it was signed. I wasn't. I wasn't
totally low on it because he was having himself a few moments at that point.
But he's always just felt so streaky that to invest another four years in
him. I think it was a four year extension. It might have been
three years. I have to look that up. Just seemed a little bit
generally not a good thing. When you need three cold games to get the
one hot game. That's like the Dylan Brooks experience when he goes off.
He's going off, But you gotta live with a lot between the dead nations
and it was it was three, three and thirty five, which just felt
like a like, I don't know what number would have made me feel okay,
like three and twenty four or something. I don't to pay him above
league average salary. I thought that was a little bit of a stretch.
Maybe I just didn't watch enough of him at the beginning of the regular season.
But he has killed them in spots and crunch time, and what you
really need him for now in Fury would be his floor spacing. And he
shot thirty five point eight percent from deep, you know, for the year
overall, I think he's at like negative eight percent. In the bubble or
around there. He's actually at twenty six point two percent. So that was
a little mean, And so I just don't know Kyle Anderson. He's taking
more threes, but the idea that he was going to make them at like
this ridiculous clip, because he's sort of hinted at towards the beginning of play
in the what do you call it, the pre bubble season, whatever,
whatever you want to say, it's just not there. He's twenty five percent
since the games have started to matter. And so the Anthony Melton has never
been a shooter. He doesn't take a ton of threes. He's under twelve
percent. It's so hard for them to build these really good lineups and it's
not like there. It doesn't seem like they're inclined to lean on Josh Jackson.
At this point. You can throw Anthony Tolliver in the front court to
give yourself some functional shooting, but he's just not going to give you much
on defense now, and pairing him with another big could really just end up
being a disaster. So I look at this roster and think, how are
they supposed to play? And they don't really make sense on paper when you
look at the best lineup that they could field, or even the lineups that
they actually feeld. And yet I'm also just still not ready to write them
off. There's like a final thing I'll say for them. There's like this
Pacers West vibe. To me, they're clearly not as good, but they're
never at ful strength. It feels like they're lineups don't make sense in part
because they're unable to make sense. At this point. You always wish that
they had India has more guys who can shoot. This is a team that
you wish had more guys who could shoot. So there's that element there,
But they're always just in these games for a better than anticipated amount of time.
Even their loss to who do they play on Sunday? Was that Toronto
that they lost too. They were just in that game for way longer than
they should have been and before Toronto began pulling away. So I respect what
the Grizzlies have done too much this season to really write them off. And
what I would also say is if they keep the eight spot, I'm not
entirely sure which team I would guarantee beats them twice in the play And if
it was Portland, I think I would pick Portland, but I would just
be like unconfident about it because of how bad Portland's defense has been in the
bubble and you know, on the season overall in general, it's it's just
really difficult to beat the same team multiple times in a row. I mean,
unless you're talking about a playoff series where you're gearing up and you're making
all these strategic adjustments and you know, just going over everything. And I'm
super laughing because we both just got the newest shams Tania push notification right the
breaking news update. For the previous breaking news update, he Sharania Eton has
been cleared and is in route now to join the Suns for the thunder game.
I'm not like, I understand things need to be reported, but this
was literally just like course was reversed in the span of how many minutes are
we talking about, like sub ten five minutes it was eight and went from
you is he gonna play? And then five minutes later, Oh, he's
he's going to play. So like in the cur in the game that is
currently happening, this is just only in twenty and twenty apparently very much so.
So what were you saying? I think we covered I don't know at
this point, just that it's it's tough to beat the same team twice in
a row, especially like on the neutral court, with so many adjustments expected
to be made, Like it's I feel like whoever ends up in the eighth
seed just has this massive advantage regardless of which combination of two teams, it
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to ask you one, who do you want to get eight and nine?
And two who do you think is going to get eight and nine? I
feel like we've covered all four teams at this point and it's it's prediction time.
See I want I would love to see a play in tournament between the
Spurs and the Blazers. I don't really care how it's set up at that
point. I'd rather have the Blazers in eight in that scenario, just because
I still think they're going to be the better matchup for the Lakers, but
I think it's gonna end up being Memphis in Portland. And I'm not entirely
sure on the order because I know you look at their games, right,
but both office losses. I'm just I'm not inclined to go that way.
If they do lose on Tuesday, though, That's where then this gets interesting
if Phoenix has won by that point, because then, yeah, I think
you could probably assume they'll lose against Milwaukee unless Milwaukee forfeits or something because the
Bucks are so deep. So I'm going with Memphis in Portland. And if
you're asking me who I think is gonna win in that scenario, I think
Portland ends up being the team in the playoffs. I don't know how they
get there. Maybe they have to win the play in to wrmant or maybe
they actually get to eight and they only have to win the one game,
so regardless, they'll be in the play in Torment bad phrasing there. It's
just it's so tough because there's so many different scenarios in the air, and
we have there seems to be more variants and how opponents are going to approach
the games against these teams than there would be towards the end of a typical
regular season, and part because you don't have the normal bad teams and so
you know, we're not looking at it. Oh, it's the Nicks.
It doesn't matter if they're resting anyone. That would be a win anyway.
It's Oh, the Grizzlies are playing the Celtics. Are the Celtics actually gonnaar
rest anybody? And so those questions get difficult to answer. But right now,
if I was forced to choose, I would pick the Blazers. I
would love to see Memphis in Portland play in that play in series, just
because I just absolutely adore a John Moran's game. I want to see it
as much as possible, and I would just absolutely love getting to see him
on that stage, going head to head with Damian Lillard and just seeing what
he can do in that moment what I think is going to happen. I'm
gonna stick with my Portland at eight and Phoenix at nine prediction and Portland winning
the second of those two games. I think the other thing I didn't say
about Phoenix earlier that I do think is a salient point is that of these
four teams, they're the only one that's benefiting from pre hiatus continuity. You
know, Memphis is trying to figure out how it's going to operate without Jaren
Jackson Jr. Portland is trying to figure out how it's going to operate with
Yusef Nurkicsch with this more effective version of Carmelo Anthony trying to give Gary Trent
Junior more touches. San Antonio is trying to figure out how they're going to
work without LaMarcus Aldrich in the picture and potentially now without Derek White in the
picture. And Phoenix does have generally the same rotation, and I think that's
a big advantage here. Yeah, I feel like the Portland's stuff isn't really
too big of a deal, just because they've had Nurkis for so long before
and the role they have Melo playing, It doesn't really feel like it's hard
to integrate. The Spurs one is definitely tough because depending on what's happening with
Derek Ryant, especially like their rotations are just wild right now. And then
Jaca Pearl hasn't helped things because he's been in foul trouble in three of the
I think they've played five games now if they played six, but he's been
in trouble for like more than half the games that they've played, which has
caused them to go to probably lineups that they wouldn't have gone to in general.
So they've played six and I'm pretty sure he's been in foul trouble for
seven of those six games. That's my estimation. I mean fair. It
does feel like almost every player has been in foul trouble because the reps are
calling everything that's fair too. I'm actually curious. It's why you actually want
to see the Grizzlies play the Blazers, because the experience loses something. I
love John Morant. The Grizzlies are good, and I think if you look
on paper and you say the three best players on their team are Brandon Clark,
the ownist, Falan Tunis, and John Morant, that's like, that's
not egregiously bad. That's actually that's solid. That's fine. But the way
that roster kind of coalaces together right now, I just don't know that that
would make for the most entertaining matchup, and so I'd rather see I'd probably
rather see Memphis this and I feel like I'm shitting on Memphis right now.
I don't want to. It's just because they're so losing. Jarret Jackson Junior
is such a blow to the the way that they play that I'm so much
lower on them, and so I'd rather see any other combination of teams in
the play in tournament than them right now. This is coming from someone on
who John Morands play one of my five to ten favorite players to watch in
the league. Right now, I think I'm just valuing the Morant experience a
little bit more than you are. It might not be the most entertaining series,
but that wasn't really the question, just because it's who I want to
see, and that's Morant, it's Brendan Clark. And I've long felt that
the Jannis Valentinus is one of the more underrated players in the league, and
I would love to see him get some some shine on the truly national stage.
If that's where the focus of the entire basketball world is is on the
eight verse nine seed in the West, He's going to be a central figure.
He's going to get some credit, and he deserves that credit. So
it's it's more of those more personal reasons than what might be the purely most
entertaining series of these possibilities. Do you want to spend a couple of minutes
on the two teams that are definitely not going to be in the playoffs?
The Hawks and the Knicks. No, I'm done talking about the Knicks,
or forever and ever, the Kings and the Pelicans. The Kings the Aaron
Fox said this after the game. Someone asked him if he felt the team
had a clearly defined identity this season, and he said that when playing a
team like the Rockets, you have to know what you're going to do.
He doesn't think the team knew that in their loss to the Rockets. He
said that happened a lot throughout the season. And this is from Richard Ivanowski.
He writes for the Sacramento b And so that's what Daron Fox said.
That is just that's troubling. That's my meltingly troubling. And you look at
how long it took the Kings to kind of lean into their you know,
speedball this season too, where they were just slowing things down the half court
entirely too often. And I feel like it happened in a couple of games
during the bubble as well. They've got some like real issues, and that's
something you could always say about the Kings. But one of the things that's
going to be super complicated about this roster is you have Daron Fox, who's
extension eligible now and he's going to get the MAX. Whether they give it
to him as an extension or in restricted free agency, it doesn't matter.
Twenty twenty two, he's gonna be on a MAX deal. You have Bogdan
Bogdanovich is a fifty free agent this year. You've already paid Harrison Barnes,
You've already paid Buddy Healed, and so all of a sudden fast forward next
season, they'll be fine. You pay Bogie whatever, like what, you'll
be fine the season after that. Like you're looking at a team that could
be in tax territory for a core of Harrison Barnes, Bogdan Bogdanovitch, Buddy
Healed, and Deanon Fox, and then Rischaon Holmes is also going to be
a free agent at that point. Let's not forget that Marvin Bagley will be
on the roster for eleven point three million team option. That's not nothing.
The ELITEA will be a free agent that summer as well. They're in like
this really awkward, fragile territory and it feels like they need it. Feels
like they always need this, But it feels like there needs to be a
significant overhaul in Sacramento. Yeah, it feels like that I need to restart,
which is not ideal for a franchise that has not made the playoffs since
two thousand and six, nor has it posted a win season since two thousand
and six. It came close last year with a thirty nine and forty three
record, which actually has a better winning percentage than they have this year because
they just totally floundered at the end of the year. I agree with you,
I don't know what the path forward is to have a legitimately high ceiling
with this team. Darren Fox is incredible. He's gonna elevate everyone. He
is moving towards superstar territory. He's going to be in the All Star and
All NBA conversation moving forward. But what other pieces do you really have a
lot of confidence in here, Like it would be great if Marvin Bagley could
stay healthy and show more than just like flashes of what made him the top
pick in one of the top picks in the draft when he was coming out
of Duke, But I have no confidence in that happening. We haven't seen
anyone really step up and take control of that number two on the roster status.
Buddy Healed had to be moved to the bench, Bogdon Bogdanovich's is definitely
inconsistent. You know, he had the thirty five point explosion on the heels
of a game where he shot like three for seventy two. I just I
don't know that I see a path forward to even making the playoffs with this
current roster, especially given how deep the West is every single year and how
many up and coming teams we have that are going to keep challenging for these
postseason spots. And if you aren't able to either move back and add another
potential superstar through the draft, what is the path forward? Right and that's
it. How do you get to become a surefire playoff team? And that's
a really difficult question to answer if you alluded to in the West, and
you know, I don't look the Buddy Healed stuff. He played well off
the bench for them this year for the most part, not so much in
the right that's just something you have to worry about. And also he becomes
a different type of asset when he's when his extension kicks in four years,
ninety four million. I believe it's what he signed for, and so that's
something you have to grapple with. They do have the hardest part in place
where you have dearon Fox. I think he can be the best player on
a contender, and so that's the hardest player of a rebuild to find.
But how do you build around him? I think they read too much into
last year is what we're ultimately seeing by reinvesting in Harrison Barnes, by paying
Corey Joseph, we forget that Trevor Ariza was on this team to start the
season. I said this many times. We're shout out to Trevor Ariza for
just going to get the bag and then deciding that I'll figure out how to
get to a better team at mid season, because that's just how he operates
now and I'm so in favor of it. Their path would be, though,
is that maybe they could talk themselves in the standing relatively pat resigned by
Danovitch just just move, you know, maybe you're able to keep Harry Giles.
I don't know what he would command on the market. They already declined
his team options. That's gonna limit what they can offer him. But if
you have a healthier Rachaon Holmes, if you're a healthier Marvin Badley, maybe
you can implant yourself into that playoff discussion. But even then, let's assume
this roster is fully healthy going in the next year. They still feel like
they're one significant piece short, and I don't know, you know, would
to change your view of them if they went out and they were able to
get a trade for for Aaron Gordon over the off season, so that they
just have more defensive optionality and than just this another higher swing piece. But
in that scenario, I don't know that you want to necessarily give up Buddy
Healed for Aaron Gordon. I think Buddy Healed and a Vacuum is probably the
better player. I don't know Aaron Gordon's really come along as as a passer,
and what he can do on defense certainly matters. Also, Magic the
Magic's asking price on him they have just went up because they might not have
Jonathan Isaac at all for for next season. So there's so many questions for
the Kings. But I'm with you, I don't think you know if I
don't think you can look at them and say they're even one of the ten
or eleven best teams in the West next year, because my question you would
be, if you look at the West right now, which team, as
currently constructed, is going to say, you know what, we're not making
the postseason this year. I don't know that there is one. You need
something to happen over the off season for a team to identify itself as one.
I think a lot of people. Let's go, let's go through those
real fast. Right Like, we have the two LA teams that obviously aren't
going anywhere because they have the superstar pairing, so unless Anthony Davis shocks the
world by going somewhere else. We have Denver, which is always going to
be competitive with Yokich there and they're still building something special there. Houston still
has James Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Thunders still have Shaygil just Alexander and
Chris Paul is probably going to stay there because they are now convinced that they
can be competitive. The Jazz could maybe break something up if they just absolutely
flame out in the first round. But then you still have the up and
coming Mavericks and the Grizzlies and the Damian Lillard C J. McCollum, use
of Nurkis Blazers, and the Suns and the Pelicans and the Timberwolves with Karl
Anthony Towns and D'angela Russell. Let's not forget about the Golden State Warriors,
who are going to have Stephen clayback next year. You need to the Kings
could be the worst team in the Western Conference next year, right, This
would need to be a scenario. I think there's a chance that Grizzlies could
drop off significantly. A lot hinges on how the just East winslow fit ends
up panning out for them, But you're banking on if you want to say
they're going to be guaranteed teams below the Kings next year, you're basically saying,
well, the thunder are going to trade everybody or the Spurs are going
to go that rout as well. And that might be a tougher route for
the Spurs to go now that they've played so well in Disney, where it's
like, oh, some of these youngsters just might be ready to compete right
now. Kelvin Johnson is good and apparently doesn't miss and and can really move
on defense and hold up against some fours. And Lonnie Walker looks pretty good
on offense as well. That's that's Popovich could start you and I and they
would be in playoff contention. Apparently, that's apparently the takeaway there. So
the Kings, as ever, are on delicate ground. The Pelicans are different.
They're so well built for the future. I'm willing, you know,
can we plead that Zion Williamson didn't even play in thirty games this year and
that you know, if you look at his season, it was like a
tale of four or five seasons because he has the preseason, gets injured,
comes back, then there's the long hiatus, then goes into the Disney training
camp, has to leave I believe it was for family reasons, then coming
back trying to ramp into shape, and then he's like a little bit better
on offense, you know, closing or I guess I'm talking specifically about their
game against the Spurs in which they lost on Sunday. That's tough. I
mean, the rookie learning curve is steep. To begin with, and he
does seem like a player who's really going to work. Just he strikes me
just based off how he talks and carries himself as a very mature young adult.
And yes, you're gonna have to pay it brandon ingram Max money.
You definitely still keep him. The real questions to me would be, no,
you don't. They shouldn't be talking about trading Drew Holiday because I think
that this is a team that can actually compete immediately. I also don't think
jj Reddick looks out of place, and some people were kind of pointing out
on Twitter after they lost to the Spurs. I think the questions are what
can you do with the center position? Because Jackson Hayes isn't ready. I
don't know if he's ever going to be a good fit Alongsigon. Dereck Favors
was okay this year. He was really injured and so definitely did not provide
the value that they were expecting. Can you acquire a center who's a better
fit, particularly on offense? Next Tosignon, do you bring back Dereck Favors
because he wasn't into the way you were defending at your peak. And then
the other question you have to answer is what are you going to do with
Lonzo Ball, who you know that I enjoy more than most. I had
him ranked as a top sixty ish player at the end of the first regular
season before Disney started. But there seem to be too many players who need
the ball in their hands on this team. And if you want, I
think you keep Drew, you keep Ingram, and so that leaves him a
little bit out of place. You don't want to have him on the ball
too much because you want them to get their touches. But having him off
the ball, even when he's not hesitant to shoot threes, he's shown that
he can kind of disappear or he'll go through those really freezing cold streaks,
and so you should probably test the trade market on him would be my next
step. If we're talking about the most nuclear move the Pelicans should explore,
I think it's seeing what they could get for Lonzo Ball, particularly because he's
also extension eligible and going to be a restricted free agent in twenty twenty one
himself. Look, I don't know what you're talking about. Have you watched
the Pelicans in the bubble. They can't play defense, they can't close games,
Zion is out of shape and doesn't play defense. They need to break
it up and start over. Just let let Brandon Ingram walk. Trade everyone,
maybe even trade Zion because he can't stay on the court for more than
twenty minutes per game. But there, I know you're being This is yeah,
this is all a joke, Like I would run it back entirely.
This team, when all the pieces work, has been fantastic. Zion Williamson
when he's played, has been incredible and makes everything work. Ingram clearly works
next to him. Lonzo Ball there's a market difference and how he plays when
he can throw lobs to Zion versus when he's on the court without him.
When they have all of their main pieces on the floor. They've had one
of the best five man units in the NBA this season, admittedly in a
relatively small sample size, but we also have reason to believe that these pieces
are so young that they're just going to continue getting better. What happens when
Zion can play thirty minutes a game for a full season next year, I
don't I don't see any reason to believe that that can't happen, given his
work ethic and how effective he's been when he has had longer stints. I
just I don't know that they need to make any changes. I don't think
they need to make any changes. But if you were looking because you feel
like you're on an expedited timeline and you need to do something, I don't
think there's The reactions to me were just it was doom and gloom for a
team that I think is set up if you go five to seven years into
the future. I don't know which team you're necessarily putting in front of them.
If you wanted to be Boston, if you're gonna tell me that you
honest resigns Milwaukee, Fine, they're in the top five of that long term
future discussion, like just end of story. And I feel like this conversation
also has to mention where their priorities were. They made it very clear they
did not attempt to hide it at all that they were more concerned about their
future than pushing for a playoff spot this season, Because what would that have
done. Okay, you get some playoff experience for the youngsters, but you
get swept by the Lakers in the first round. Is that really worth risking
Zion's health? Is it worth risking any other pieces like it wasn't to them,
and they acted accordingly, and they've been getting trashed for doing so because
they did give up some winnable games by keeping Zion on the bench towards the
end of towards the end of the contest and maybe not necessarily playing their most
potent lineup combinations at every twist and turn. But they never offered any any
reason to believe that their goal was to make the playoffs. And we assume
that every team should be trying to be as competitive as possible and once you
get to the postseason, anything could happen. But they were just being realistic,
and I think it's it's colored this conversation in a strange way, right.
And that's the other thing too, is I don't look the lethargy on
getting back in defense for such long structures like that's that's definitely annoying because these
games had stakes, and so regardless of what the teams right intent was,
the players should want to win. I'm not going to question anyone's desire to
win, but they just there were times of the Pelicans just didn't appear interested
and they were commas on defense. Honestly, I think it's I think it's
fair to question that when it's made explicit by the front office. It is
harder to compete in these scenarios, and it's a young team, like it
was tough for them to find the necessary motivation here and they should be held
accountable for that, But it isn't and it isn't necessarily a condemnation of the
future of the incumbents. And the other issue, as you touched upon,
was the lineups were just weird, Like there are too many minutes in the
Bubble specifically, where like why do you have like Drew Holiday and Brandon Ingram
on the bench at the same time. You know, brend Ingram the shots
he can create first teammates when he gets going downhill. If you're worried about
the fit between he and Zion, like give him a lot of Ingram plus
bench minutes if those are the units you're gonna run out. Like the fact
they were so reliant on Frank Jackson was just so bizarre to me. They
seem to go to Nicole o'melly like way too early for my taste as well,
and my guests would be I'm not going to pin the bubble or this
season on Alvin Gentry because my gut feeling is if Zion is healthy the entire
year, the Pelicans are a playoff team. That's my gut feeling. But
I almost find it hard to believe that Alvin Gentry is going to be there
next season. It just feels like a poorly kept secret at this point that
he's not going to be the coach to this team. There is a new
front office regime in place dating back to last summer. They typically do like
to install their own guy. Just felt like a unique situation because Gentry did
so well with the Davis departure, like handling that, and it did seem
like he and David Griffin were on the same page and in the same but
just on more on the same page than an incumbent coach and a new executive
would be. But now I'm at the point right almost be shocked if that
he'd still be in New Orleans next year. And the rumor is that the
two favorites for the job are Tyron Lou and Jason Kidd. One of those
is a good option and it is not Jason Kidd. I would love to
see what Lou could do with a team that had a more traditional coaching role
than the Cleveland Cavaliers had when Lebron James was on that team, because as
great as Lebron is, he's definitely a forceful personality who gets to make a
lot of decisions that not a lot of players get to make. And I
would, I would genuinely like to see what lou can do with a coh
of team filled with up and coming players. I have no interest in seeing
Jason Kidd rex Ion Williamson's career. Rex seems like a strong word. But
keep Jason Kidd and Mark Jackson all the way away from this team. I
don't know that they look at this because maybe he feels too developmental. But
Kenny Atkinson feels like he might be an interesting fit for this roster. But
let's not talk about avoguately, let's not talk about replacing Alvin Gentry before he's
actually fired. Excuse me by one quick note before I ask you about the
Sixers. We just another breaking news nugget Terrence Ross has had to leave the
Disney Bubble due to a personal non COVID medical matter. According to WOJ,
he'll he'll undergo offsite tests as advised by league physicians. He is not going
to play in their game against Brooklyn on Tuesday, and his availability moving forward
will depend on the test results in NBA quarantine protocols. Now, I want
to ask you about the Sixers who are They're entirely too fascinating at this point,
like they're uncomfortably fascinating because of why they're Fascinat Ben Simmons. They haven't
ruled him out for the season, but I would be shocked if he played
again this year. He's dealing with a what amounts to a dislocated left knee
and he's having surgery on it. So I wouldn't expect to see him for
the rest of the year. Maybe if they're in the finals or something,
but I don't expect to see them in the finals. Inbid left their game
on Sunday with I think it was a left ankle injury. I'm not even
sure which ankle was. We left with an ankle injury and we're still waiting
on an update. We actually didn't lead with this at the top of the
podcast in hopes that there might be a breaking news nugget about what his availability
would be. This is just something that's like, you know, he missed
time in the playoffs last year he was his minutes were stringently managed, particularly
in that first round series against the Nets, because he was laboring through injuries.
What do you make of this team right now, Adams, I have
no idea. I would love to see what this team could do with a
healthy Embid leading the charge. He was so good early in the bubble before
this injury. I'd love to see how far he could take them, if
he could potentially keep them alive long enough that Simmons could return. But I
highly doubt that that's going to be the case. And just a shame on
you to the Philadelphia front office for continuing to run with this experiment. And
I'm not talking about putting Ben Simmons and Joel Embid together. I'm talking about
not putting the right players around them. This duo has been phenomenal when they've
both been on the court. It can absolutely work despite both having shooting limitations,
despite Simmons not thriving off the ball. But you have to actually put
shooters around them, and the Sixers, for whatever reason, have staunchly refused
to do that. And I feel like we've just had another year squandered of
this duo that could potentially be such a devastating combination against any opponent because the
front office can't find the right pieces to put around them, like we always
hear like, oh we need to break them up? Which one of them
are they going to trade? Like, maybe we should do the easier fix,
which is to put the actual, proper, complimentary pieces around them,
right, And the closest they came to doing that was twenty seventeen, twenty
eighteen when you had Reddick, Roco and Dario Sarich. I wouldn't say that
those were the perfect compliments, but the idea you need, Look, you
need more than someone who can stand still threes. You need functional shooting.
To me, someone who can move. It doesn't necessarily have to be Jj
Reddick, but you need functional shooting and ball handling. And they have gone
in the complete opposite direction. And this idea that it can't work is bizarre.
To mean, maybe they're not the cleanest fit. But in twenty seventeen
twenty eighteen, Philly was a plus sixteen point two points per one hundred possessions
with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on the court. Last year plus nine point
five points per one hundred possessions when they shared the floor this year plus one
point eight, and a lot of that has to do with the roster construction
and the money that they've committed to Al Horford is equity burned that they couldn't
use on others, and even just making smaller moves on the margins. It's
clear that if you've given the choice, would you'd rather have had JJ Reddick
than Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris and Al Horford It shouldn't even be a question.
There were obviously extenuating circumstances with Jimmy Butler's departure. It seems like he
really did want to be in Miami. And I don't even think Tobias Harris
is necessarily part of the problem. He is a good fit for this roster,
but because he's not someone who's going to put a ton of pressure on
the rim, That's why Jimmy Butler was the betterfit, even though he's probably
a floor spacing downgrade there, and this team without Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons,
it would be it would be absolutely cooked. I don't know if you
would the luxury of having a Tobias Harris and Al Horford and then Josh Richardson
who went apt off, absolutely off over the weekend. Is oh, hey,
maybe you can, you know, kind of steal some games. Do
you get out a first round series have like that pacers feel to the way
that you're playing, It's certainly possible, but they I don't like. I
don't know what I would expect from them. Honestly, if Embade and Simmons
both aren't available leading in to the playoffs. The good news is is that
if a Bid is available, when Horford and Ebid have played without Simmons,
the offense has absolutely hummed the I think they have an offensive rating of near
one and twenty. The defense has not been great, but the sample size
is so small that I think you can argue you don't have to read too
much into the good or the bad. There They're ower rating with Horford and
e Bid now since they've played some minutes and Simmons went down is one fifteen
when they're playing without Ben, but their defensive rating is also one fifteen.
So there's just there's so many questions. I was always never going to be
surprised if this team lost in the first round, but now I'm almost wondering
do we need to expect them to lose in the first round because it feels
like we're going to end up seeing Philly Boston in Round one, which is
not good news for them. No, I think people wanted to see the
Sixers face the Celtics, but that was if you had both Ben Simmons and
Joel Embiid exactly. I do want to just expand on one thing that you
said, even though I don't have that much to ad. It's just a
point of clarification on those two man net ratings because I've seen those cited as
evidence for why it isn't working anymore, because those numbers have gone down each
of the last two seasons, and it was barely a positive when they were
both on the court this season. But it's so important and so overlooked that
a two man net rating still involves three other players, and as much as
we would like to believe that it is solely about those two, like if
you do have core fitting pieces around them and you can't make those lineups work,
those numbers are going to get dragged down. So if you're citing that
as evidence that this partnership doesn't work, and needs to be broken up,
like there are other confounding factors that are very important here, and I just
I think it that should go without saying, but it needs to be said.
Well, the process of them searching over the past two years is what's
kind of hurt then and Joel more than anything, because let's go to that
twenty seventeen twenty eighteen when they had the plus sixteen point two net rating.
The most shows line up with those two played almost thirteen hundred possessions. Last
season, when they were a plus nine point five together, the most shoes
line up with those two, it was cut to six twenty eight. This
year, the most shoes lineup featuring these two is five hundred and eighteen possessions,
And so that continuity has been downgraded, which is why I think you
expect the numbers to go down, because it's also in tandem with the personnel
around them making substantially less sense, is how I would put it. Yeah,
I mean, I just can't help but imagine this partnership with someone like
Buddy Healed around them. It would just be such a tremendous fit to have
that that actual off ball weapon who is so comfortable moving around the court like
a prime JJ Reddick, right. And look that's why people, I don't
know what if you could get in play for a you know, maybe you
should try and trade from JJ Reddeck if New Orleans does decide to blow it
up. But I don't know if you could get him play for Buddy Healed,
because who wants Al Horford's contract? Even to Bias Harris. I know
he's on the younger side, but that's such a steep commitment. This team
isn't broken. Like, think about if they could just add even one like
plus ball handler, shooter, you know, someone who's a little bit better
than Alec Burks, the team just there. The ceiling on them just goes
exponentially higher to me. And so that's why I think it's foolish to believe
they need to choose between Simmons and Embiide. I'm not saying it won't happen
one day, but it needs to be a last resort. And right now,
I don't think we've seen them next to the optimal amount of talent yet.
And I also don't think the Sixers are out of cards to play.
Even if they can't swing another blockbuster. You know, you have let's Mike
Scott as small salary salary filler. You have z that year Smith still there.
If you really want it to go all in, you a future first
you have, But these thible there are moves that you can make on the
margins that I think can make you substantially better, just because it'll help your
roster make more sense. And that's what the Sixers are lacking in, not
talent, but functional sense. Absolutely. And I also just want to give
a quick out out to Tubias Harris. He got so much criticism at the
beginning of the season when his shot wasn't falling right off that massive contract that
he signed. But during the bubble he's averaged twenty two point four points,
eight point four rebounds, two point six assists, shooting forty three point three
percent from the field and forty point seven percent on threes. He's been fantastic.
He's been everything that they wanted him to be, just a little too
late. I mean, he's also he's been good ever since that, you
know, was the first twenty games of the season. He's actually had a
pretty good year after that. So again he hasn't been the obvious it's because
he's not Jimmy Butler is basically like what the problem is. But I think
that does it for us here. This episode is going to end up being
over an hour. Thank you all for listening. We appreciate you so much.
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Once again, thank you all for listening. Until next time, we
leave you with the shout out too, Kelton Johnson just because he's been shooting
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